Most major facilities halted as authorities prioritize drinking water; only Hadera remains operational among six large plants

Most of Israel’s privately operated desalination facilities have been temporarily taken offline after unusually high seawater turbidity caused by recent weather conditions disrupted the filtration process, according to the Water Authority.

The shutdowns began Saturday, but officials did not publicly disclose the disruption until Monday. The resulting reduction in available freshwater has affected agricultural supplies across southern Israel, with water deliveries to farms in the Ramat Negev Regional Council suspended entirely.

The desalination plants in Hadera and Eilat remain operational, along with 20 smaller facilities operated by national water company Mekorot.

The Water Authority said the country’s national water system remains stable and that Mekorot has increased production from every available source.

“According to current estimates, some of the desalination facilities will resume operations soon,” the authority said. “Professional teams are closely monitoring water quality and are prepared for every scenario, with the goal of returning all facilities to operation as soon as the seawater becomes clearer.”

High turbidity makes desalination difficult because suspended particles in seawater can clog filtration membranes and interfere with the plants’ ability to process water.

By Monday afternoon, Hadera was the only one of Israel’s six major desalination plants still producing water.

The Ashkelon and Ashdod facilities were shut down Saturday, followed by the Sorek and Palmachim plants, which stopped operating Sunday afternoon or during the overnight hours.

“There is hope that Sorek B will begin operating soon because the samples from there look good,” Water Authority Director-General Yehezkel Lifshitz said.

The Hadera desalination facility produces approximately 120 million to 130 million cubic meters of water each year.

Despite the widespread shutdowns, the facilities are expected to resume production once seawater turbidity returns to acceptable levels.

Together, the major facilities currently offline have an annual production capacity of roughly 750 million cubic meters, not including Sorek B at full capacity. As a result, only an estimated 15% to 17% of normal annual desalination production is currently operating.

The timing of each plant’s restart could vary even among facilities located relatively close to one another because their seawater intake points differ in both depth and location.

Southern Israel faces the greatest impact

Southern Israel is experiencing the most significant effects because its water network has less capacity to move supplies from other regions of the country.

With available supplies constrained, authorities are giving priority to household drinking water rather than agricultural and landscaping needs.

Officials are also working to increase water production from the Sea of Galilee and from groundwater wells to help offset the reduced desalination capacity.

Northern Israel has experienced considerably less disruption because the region depends more heavily on the Sea of Galilee and groundwater rather than desalinated water.

Farmers who primarily use treated wastewater have also been largely spared from the restrictions. The measures are focused mainly on southern agricultural operations that depend on freshwater, including water produced through desalination.

The Eshkol Regional Council issued an urgent notice to farmers, asking them to immediately cut back on freshwater use for irrigation and landscaping.

“Following disruptions at national desalination facilities caused by the rains, there is interference with the national water supply,” the council said.

“Farmers and those responsible for landscaping are asked to immediately reduce all use of fresh water for agriculture and gardening. Treated wastewater may still be used.”

The council cautioned that continued agricultural consumption of freshwater could place additional pressure on supplies needed for household use and drinking.

In the Ramat Negev Regional Council, authorities have gone further, suspending freshwater deliveries for agricultural purposes entirely.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Monday that Russia and Israel had spread and amplified disinformation surrounding last month’s mass influx of migrants into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta.

Sánchez pointed to research conducted by the European External Action Service, the European Union’s diplomatic arm, and said it was “evident” that both countries had seized on the crisis as an opportunity to attack his government.

He said the alleged disinformation campaign was connected to Spain’s wider disputes with Moscow over the war in Ukraine and with Jerusalem over the wars in Gaza and the broader Middle East.

The remarks follow the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants from Morocco into Ceuta in late July, in what became one of Spain’s most serious migration crises in years. Spanish authorities estimated that roughly 49,000 migrants entered the enclave within a 24-hour period. Madrid subsequently characterized the incident as a violation of Spanish territorial sovereignty.

The episode also produced broader political repercussions across Europe. Italy threatened to suspend parts of its Schengen arrangements with Spain, while accounts from migrants alleging that Moroccan police had encouraged people to cross into Ceuta intensified political anger in Madrid and raised concerns in other European capitals.

Sánchez’s allegations against Israel come as relations between Madrid and Jerusalem have deteriorated sharply.

Spain recognized a Palestinian state in 2024 and has since become one of Europe’s most vocal critics of Israel’s conduct of the Gaza war. Sánchez has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, advocated restrictions on weapons and fuel shipments to Israel, and urged other European Union countries to suspend the bloc’s free-trade agreement with Israel. Israel has firmly rejected the genocide allegation and has repeatedly accused Sánchez’s government of adopting an anti-Israel agenda.

The dispute intensified after Sánchez said Spain did not possess the military capabilities including nuclear weapons and aircraft carriers needed to compel Israel to stop its operations in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office responded by accusing Sánchez of making a “genocidal threat.” Spain subsequently summoned Israel’s top diplomat in Madrid and dismissed the accusation as false and defamatory.

More recently, Israel removed Spain from a U.S.-backed civilian-military coordination center in Kiryat Gat. The Israeli Foreign Ministry cited what it described as the Sánchez government’s “anti-Israel obsession” and said Madrid could no longer make a constructive contribution to the initiative.

Sánchez’s latest comments add another layer to the increasingly bitter dispute between Spain and Israel. By placing Israel alongside Russia, the Spanish prime minister is alleging that both governments sought to capitalize on the Ceuta migration crisis to advance their political interests and undermine Madrid.

Israel and Greece have signed a €3 billion ($3.48 billion) defense agreement that will see Israel develop a multilayered air-defense network for Greece, according to Israel’s Defense Ministry.

Under a separate €26 million agreement, Israel will also provide Greece with Drone Dome systems designed to detect, track and neutralize unmanned aerial threats.

The agreements represent one of the most significant defense initiatives ever undertaken jointly by the two countries and officially launch the implementation of Greece’s planned “Achilles’ Shield” air and missile defense network.

The project is expected to be completed in approximately 35 months.

The agreement was formally signed by procurement officials from Greece’s Defense Ministry and SIBAT, the International Defense Cooperation Directorate within Israel’s Defense Ministry.

Greece is seeking to establish a comprehensive defense network capable of addressing a broad range of threats, from small drones and unmanned aircraft to cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.

Under the agreement, Athens plans to connect systems already in its arsenal with advanced Israeli platforms, including Spyder, Barak MX and David’s Sling, as well as Patriot batteries and other defensive capabilities.

At the center of the initiative will be a unified network allowing radars, sensors, command-and-control infrastructure and interceptors to exchange information and coordinate responses. The system will enable military operators to determine which defensive capability is best suited to each incoming threat.

An advanced command-and-control platform featuring artificial intelligence capabilities is expected to serve as the network’s central component.

The system will gather data from multiple radars and sensors, assess potential threats and help determine which layer of the defense network should respond.

That capability has become increasingly important as militaries confront increasingly crowded airspace filled with relatively inexpensive drones and other unmanned systems. Deploying an expensive interceptor against every low-cost drone can be both financially burdensome and operationally inefficient.

The integrated network is therefore designed to assign the most appropriate defensive measure to each threat, while preserving more advanced and costly interceptors for targets that demand them.

The agreement also includes a major industrial component for Greece, with approximately 12 Greek companies expected to participate in the project. Their combined involvement is valued at more than €700 million, representing roughly 25% of the overall project.

For Athens, the objective is to make the initiative more than simply a purchase of foreign defense technology. Greece also wants the project to promote technology transfers, strengthen domestic expertise and expand the capabilities of its own defense industry.

A major issue during negotiations involved Greece’s access to the source code for software running the network.

Such access could provide Athens with greater autonomy in maintaining, modifying and upgrading the system over the long term. The issue has become increasingly significant as countries negotiate major acquisitions involving sophisticated weapons and defense technologies.

Monday’s agreement represents another milestone in the rapidly expanding defense relationship between Israel and Greece.

For Greece, the project is intended to create a modern and integrated defensive architecture capable of responding to an evolving threat landscape in which missiles and drones are playing an increasingly prominent role.

For Israel, the deal represents another major international defense export and further deepens strategic cooperation with Greece, one of its key partners in the eastern Mediterranean.

U.S. President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated video on social media that he claimed depicted Iran’s major oil hub of Kharg Island being destroyed, but an Iranian energy official dismissed the claim as “laughable” as fighting between the two countries resumed after a pause that began in July.

Hours after Trump’s post appeared, there was no independent evidence indicating that Kharg Island had actually been attacked.

“Trump’s tweets are laughable and conditions in Kharg are calm and appropriate,” said Hamid Bovard, chief executive of Iran’s state-run National Iranian Oil Co.

Bovard said oil production and related operations on Kharg had continued without interruption. He added that workers were repairing damage from earlier attacks while also carrying out modernization projects, according to Nournews, a semi-official Iranian outlet associated with the country’s top security body.

“Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!! President DJT,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Sunday, offering no additional explanation or details.

Reuters analyzed the video accompanying Trump’s post and determined that the footage was most likely synthetically generated. Software designed to identify AI-manipulated imagery indicated that the dramatic explosion sequences had probably been created digitally.

Kharg Island is a critical component of Iran’s energy infrastructure. Before the war began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on February 28, the island handled roughly 90% of Iran’s oil exports. A successful attack on the facility could therefore severely disrupt international energy flows while placing additional strain on Iran’s economy.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran did not want war but would respond forcefully to any attack.

“We will never remain silent in the face of any aggression and will respond decisively to the aggressors,” state media quoted him as saying on Monday before his planned trip to Kyrgyzstan.

It remained unclear whether Pezeshkian made those remarks before or after Trump published his claim about Kharg Island.

Iran also launched retaliatory attacks following an earlier U.S. strike on rocket launchers located on Larak Island, roughly 660 km (410 miles) east of Kharg. Iranian media reported that Tehran attacked two U.S. bases in Jordan, while Iran’s army said it struck the UAE’s Al Minhad air base early Monday.

The United Arab Emirates, however, rejected reports that its air base had been attacked, with its defense ministry describing the claims as false.

Iran’s foreign ministry said the attacks in Jordan were directed at U.S. facilities that had been used to support and launch the operation against Larak.

Iran’s army separately said its drone strike against the UAE air base targeted locations housing U.S. military personnel and helicopters. It described the operation as retaliation for casualties suffered during the Larak attack.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also used air-defense missiles to bring down a U.S. drone that crashed into waters in the Gulf, according to the Mehr news agency, which cited a statement from the elite military force.

Iranian state television reported that a supertanker caught fire and was forced to stop completely after striking two naval mines in the southern portion of the Strait of Hormuz. The report cited a statement from the Revolutionary Guards.

The renewed fighting on Sunday came after several weeks during which the Trump administration had increasingly relied on economic pressure against Tehran and companies doing business with Iran, while placing less emphasis on direct military action.

U.S. Prepares More Sanctions Against Iran

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that Washington was likely to announce additional secondary sanctions every week as part of an effort to intensify pressure on Tehran, with banks expected to be among the first targets.

“We’re starting with the banks, and we’re telling the banks it’s not okay to have Iranian money and to aid the regime,” Bessent said in an interview.

After the United States on Friday sanctioned branches of Egypt’s Banque Misr in the United Arab Emirates over alleged financial connections to Iran, Bessent said Washington could next move toward completely excluding a financial institution from the dollar-denominated global financial system.

“You’re going to see a lot more of these every week,” Bessent told Reuters ahead of a meeting involving finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20.

A U.S. official said the strikes against Larak represented the first known U.S. military action against Iran since late July. The official said U.S. forces targeted launchers on the small island, which sits in the Strait of Hormuz near the strategically important port of Bandar Abbas and overlooks major shipping routes entering and leaving the Gulf.

“Islamic ⁠Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz,” the official said.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that American forces had carried out “limited, precise” strikes against Iranian Revolutionary Guard personnel involved in laying mines. CENTCOM said those forces represented an “imminent threat” in the strait but did not provide further operational details.

Jordanian state television reported that the country’s armed forces intercepted eight missiles that entered Jordanian airspace. A Fox News reporter separately said on X that nearly all of the incoming missiles had been intercepted.

The latest threats to maritime traffic have already affected commercial shipping. Data showed that the number of clearly visible commodity-carrying vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz fell to about five per day over the weekend.

The actual number of ships using the waterway may have been greater because some vessels have turned off their automatic identification systems in an effort to avoid becoming targets.

The Revolutionary Guards said the supertanker that caught fire after striking mines had attempted to navigate the waterway illegally. According to a statement carried by Iranian state television, the Guards did not identify the vessel or its crew.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that other ships violating its mandatory transit rules could face the same consequences.

Trump said last week that all mines in international waters in the Strait of Hormuz had either been removed or detonated. He also warned Iran that any vessel attempting to deploy additional mines would be destroyed.

Although Trump has repeatedly maintained that the Strait of Hormuz remains open, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards navy rejected that assertion as “an obvious lie” and reiterated that ships cannot pass through the waterway without Iranian authorization.

Before the current blockade, the Strait of Hormuz carried almost one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. Iran, meanwhile, remains the third-largest producer within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Niger’s military forces said they had retaken a strategically important airbase in the capital on Sunday, one day after mutinous troops launched an attack. The incident represents the latest challenge to military ruler Abdourahamane Tiani as his government struggles to confront a persistent jihadist insurgency.

The assault highlighted growing strains within Niger’s armed forces, which have endured repeated battlefield setbacks while fighting al-Qaeda-linked groups and Islamic State affiliates operating across the region.

Explosions and gunfire were reported throughout Niamey early Saturday, including in areas surrounding the military airbase and the presidential complex. Three security sources told Reuters on Sunday that government forces had regained control of the airbase following several hours of fighting.

By Sunday, residents described the capital as largely peaceful. Aircraft continued to fly overhead, while authorities removed roadblocks that had been put in place during the unrest.

The airbase forms part of the same complex as Niamey’s civilian airport. It houses military aircraft and drones, along with a counterterrorism unit belonging to the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), the regional alliance comprising Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.

Russian and Italian military personnel are also based at the facility.

Viktor Voropaev, Russia’s ambassador to Niger, said Saturday that Africa Corps, the Kremlin-controlled paramilitary organization, had been asked to assist in efforts to neutralize the mutineers in Niamey.

Niger’s presidential office said Algeria also provided assistance, sending four fighter jets, a transport aircraft, and a refueling tanker that arrived on Sunday.

Airbase had already faced two jihadist attacks in 2026

Saturday’s assault was not the first attack against the airbase this year. The facility had previously been targeted in January by a regional Islamic State affiliate and again in June by a regional al-Qaeda affiliate.

Niger’s state media reported late Saturday that “hundreds of disaffected soldiers” had participated in the assault. According to the report, fighting continued for several hours as forces loyal to military leader Tiani attempted to restore government control.

State media also broadcast footage that purported to show mutineers surrendering, although Reuters said it had not independently verified the report.

Three security sources said the Presidential Guard mobilized to defend Tiani. The military ruler himself had made no public appearance as of Sunday morning.

Niger, a major West African producer with significant uranium, oil, and gold resources, has been under military rule since July 2023, when a coup removed President Mohamed Bazoum from power.

Sahel military governments face mounting jihadist threat

Tiani, along with the military leaders governing neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, has struggled to demonstrate significant progress in the fight against jihadist groups.

An Islamic State affiliate has carried out repeated deadly attacks against Niger’s military in the country’s southwest. One assault earlier this month left 18 soldiers dead.

The mutiny reportedly involved troops stationed in Niamey as well as soldiers from Ouallam, Tera, and Dosso. Those areas have suffered significant military losses during the country’s ongoing fight against insurgents.

Security officials and analysts say dissatisfaction among frontline troops is increasing, potentially creating an additional threat to Tiani’s government beyond the jihadist insurgency itself.

Since taking power, Tiani’s government has reduced its reliance on Western partners, strengthened its relationship with Russia, and withdrawn from the regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc.

The latest unrest comes as Niger’s authorities expand their control over the country’s uranium industry. The government has seized assets belonging to French nuclear company Orano. Niger had previously been an important source of nuclear fuel for Europe, supplying approximately 15% of Orano’s uranium at full production capacity.

The combination of persistent jihadist violence, military casualties, internal discontent, and shifting international alliances now presents Tiani’s government with multiple security and political challenges.

A passenger ferry overturned shortly after departing from Northern Cyprus, prompting an emergency rescue operation. Authorities have not yet confirmed whether anyone was killed or injured in the incident.

“Around 100 passengers have been evacuated and taken to shore,” the transport minister of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Erhan Arikli, tells local television.

Arikli says the ferry was “taking on water” as rescue teams worked to assist those aboard.

Officials have not yet determined the ferry’s total passenger count. The vessel had departed from the Northern Cyprus port of Kyrenia and was traveling toward the Turkish port of Tasucu when it capsized.

Television footage from Turkey showed the ferry overturned in the sea, with passengers wearing life jackets gathered on top of its orange hull. The weather appeared calm and sunny, while several other vessels could be seen nearby helping with the rescue effort.

The TRNC is recognized as a state only by Turkey and administers the northern third of Cyprus. The island has remained divided since 1974.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir released footage Sunday morning showing a recent visit to Damon Prison, where he toured a security wing and spoke with female prisoners.

According to a statement from Ben-Gvir’s office, the prisoners were female Islamic Jihad terrorists.

During his visit, Ben-Gvir entered the cells and heard prisoners complain about what they described as harsh conditions and the removal of benefits that had previously been available to them, according to associates of the minister.

Ben-Gvir responded to them, “Our hostages did not have shampoo and did not have these conditions. I am proud that we succeeded in reducing the conditions for terrorists to the barest of bare minimums. The prison kindergartens are over.”

The minister said the purpose of his visit was to personally observe how the government’s policy was being implemented inside the prison. “I heard the prison officers and also the complaints of the terrorists. We are not apologizing; anyone who harms Israeli civilians will not receive a kindergarten in prison. Terrorists, both male and female, will receive the minimum required by law, and nothing beyond that,” he said.

In a post on X/Twitter accompanying the video of his exchange with the prisoners, Ben-Gvir reiterated his position, writing that “The ‘whining’ of the terrorists about the conditions in the prisons doesn’t work on me – our hostages had no conditions at all.”

Ben-Gvir has repeatedly used prison conditions to underscore his policy

The Damon Prison footage follows earlier remarks by Ben-Gvir that generated controversy over his approach to detainees and prisoners.

In May, Ben-Gvir visited the Port of Ashdod alongside prison officials, police, and IDF forces while flotilla activists were being detained. During the visit, he declared, “The kindergarten is over,” and continued, “Anyone who acts against the State of Israel will find a determined country. The people of Israel live.”

Additional footage from that visit showed the national security minister waving an Israeli flag while addressing the detained activists. “They came with a lot of pride, as great heroes. Look how they look now,” Ben-Gvir said, while gesturing toward activists who were handcuffed on the ground. He then called out, “Not heroes and nothing else, supporters of terror.”

Ben-Gvir also addressed the activists directly, shouting, “Welcome to Israel, we are the ones in charge,” before adding, “I say to Prime Minister Netanyahu, give them to me for a long time. Give them to us for the terrorists’ prisons.”

At another point, a flotilla activist shouted “Free Palestine” and resisted as security forces moved against her. After the forces pushed her to the ground, Ben-Gvir responded, “Good job.” He later called to police officers, “Do not be affected by their shouting.”

KATHMANDU — Authorities in Nepal are warning residents to prepare for the possibility of additional flooding after more heavy rain, as officials in China continue to reveal the extent of the devastation on the Tibetan side of the border.

Five days after a glacier collapse unleashed enormous volumes of water and buried communities throughout the region in mud, rescue teams in Nepal were still facing major obstacles reaching some of the hardest-hit areas. Meanwhile, the scale of the disaster continued to become clearer.

“The disaster here is overwhelming,” Ferrin Cole, an operations director at the U.S.-based Crisis Response International, told NBC News on Sunday. “The flood that came down that mountain just wiped out cities. We’re going in as fast as we can to get people the help that they need.”

Cole said his team was preparing to assist survivors and search for people who remain unaccounted for, but warned that operating in the thick mud presented serious hazards.

“The longer that death and mud are together, diseases breed, and so we’re always just aware of that,” he added.

The State Department said Saturday that roughly 100 Americans are among those reported missing in Nepal and China’s Tibet region.

Nepal’s death toll has climbed to 752, while more than 2,500 people remain missing, including 592 foreign nationals, according to the country’s disaster agency. The Nepal Tourism Board said 261 foreign nationals have so far been rescued.

China has separately reported 16 deaths and 546 missing people in Tibet, among them 261 foreign nationals. Authorities have not established how many of those reported missing in the two countries may be the same individuals.

Families searching for missing relatives could be forced to wait a considerable amount of time for definitive answers. Many bodies were swept considerable distances downstream and recovered in extremely poor condition. Nepal’s morgues have been overwhelmed, while authorities are gathering DNA samples in an effort to identify victims and notify their families.

In Chitwan district, where numerous bodies have been recovered, police officer Anil Thapa told Reuters that “more than half” of the bodies found were “beyond recognition.”

“Many have no visible faces. In some cases, only hands or legs remain,” the officer added.

The rescue and recovery operation is facing another threat from a lake created by a landslide above a border checkpoint that is now overflowing. At the same time, additional rainfall has caused rivers in Nepal to rise, leading officials to issue new warnings for people living near waterways.

Nepal’s Flood Alert system reported Sunday that significant rainfall had been recorded across several watersheds in Gandaki Province and warned that water levels were “expected to rise.”

“Therefore, people living in riverside areas are requested to adopt caution,” it said on X.

For people already affected by the disaster, however, repeated warnings have become difficult to process as they continue to live under the threat of another flood.

“Sometimes they say a flood is coming, then we have to run again to higher ground, even at night. There is also rain,” Govind Shreshta, a resident of Galchhi, told Associated Press. “It’s really difficult for me. I have a 72-year-old father and 70-year-old mom. I must carry them and I am exhausted. It’s going on like this for those who are still alive.”

China’s state-run broadcaster CCTV reported Sunday that the disaster reflects a broader pattern of glacier-related catastrophes affecting the region. It said the avalanche reached China’s Gyirong Port only minutes after the event occurred.

“The disaster was caused by glacier instability resulting from the long-term effects of climate warming,” said Chinese state media.

“It struck suddenly, with a large peak flow, high speed, severe destructive force and a wide impact area,” the report added. “These are also new and significant characteristics of cryosphere-related disasters emerging across the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding regions.”

Scientists and analysts are expected to need more time to establish exactly what triggered the mudslide and flooding. However, climate change is increasingly being viewed as a potential contributing factor.

The Himalayan region, spanning Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, China and Afghanistan is considered one of the areas of the world most exposed to climate change. Temperatures there are increasing more rapidly than the global average, accelerating the loss of glaciers and potentially making an already disaster-prone landscape even more unstable. Flooding, landslides and earthquakes are all recurring hazards in the region.

The suspected collapse of a melting glacier generated such powerful ground movement that seismic monitoring equipment initially identified the event as a magnitude-4.4 earthquake.

The U.S. Geological Survey subsequently revised the estimate to the equivalent of a magnitude-5.2 earthquake. It also reported that another seismic event occurred about three hours later, measuring the equivalent of a magnitude-4.2 earthquake. According to the USGS, debris and floodwaters generated by what it described as a “slope failure” traveled approximately 62 miles.

“We will not be able to attribute 100% that this is because of climate change, because these changes have been happening” over a long period of time, Neera Shrestha Pradhan, an expert at Nepal’s International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, said on Friday. But climate change might be breaking a threshold, she said, and “maybe that might be one of the causes of this happening.”

Janis Mackey Frayer, Dawn Liu and Sunil Pandey reported from Kathmandu, Nepal. Freddie Clayton reported from London.If you want, I can also make this more dramatic and publication-ready, with a sharper news-style lead and shorter paragraphs while still preserving all quotes verbatim.

Six prominent Rabbanim were invited by the White House to a pre-Rosh Hashanah meeting with President Trump: the Skverer Rebbe, both Satmar Rebbes (Reb Aharon and Reb Zalman Leib), the Bobov-48 Rebbe, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Monsey, and BMG Rosh Yeshiva Rav Malkiel Kotler, the only Litvish Rabbi invited.

The special meeting is set to take place this coming Thursday, September 3rd, in the Oval Office at 12:30 PM.

Belaaz has confirmed that White House Jewish liaison Martin Marks personally placed the calls and worked on arranging the meeting for several months.

According to a source who spoke with Belaaz, the White House initially planned to allow only one gabbai to accompany each Rebbe into the Oval Office, but later reversed course. As of this moment, each Rebbe will enter alone and speak with President Trump for as little as two minutes. A roundtable is also being worked on.

A source says that the meeting is part of a White House push, ahead of the midterms, to strengthen ties with the Jewish community.

That format has already shaken the guest list. Belaaz is told that the Skverer Rebbe, 85, has already canceled, specially after the White House floated the idea of no gabbaim entering the meeting; his older son will most likely attend in his place. The Bobov-48 Rebbe, the only Bobover Rebbe invited, has also canceled for now and will possibly send a son as well.

Belaaz is also told that Satmar’s Reb Aharon confirmed his attendance, but a source says he threatened to pull out after learning the meeting would run only two minutes; the White House has since considered extending his slot to five minutes. Reb Zalman Leib has not yet responded and can possibly send a son as well.

The Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Monsey is currently in Israel and said he will respond upon his return.

A separate source tells Belaaz that l gabaim and askanim of a specific rebbe, who was not invited, are hurt by the exclusion, and are working to get him added to the list.

A Jewish community activist tells Belaaz that Rebbes may very likely leave disappointed regardless: “The question is who will sit near President Trump, how do you decide? Initially they wanted Reb Aharon Teitelbaum to sit near the President.”

Another source says Bobov may withdraw entirely if the event amounts to little more than a midterm-season photo op, calling that outcome potentially embarrassing. “The whole thing is shaky,” one askan said. He added that the compressed format — one-on-one, no gabbai, and as brief as a two-minute meeting — leaves little room for any of the Rabbanim to raise a substantive request with the President. For the Skverer Rebbe, that constraint compounded with concerns about entering alone at 85 without a gabbai.

This is a developing story. Belaaz will update as details are confirmed.

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed apologized Saturday for remarks he made following the March attack on Temple Israel in suburban Detroit, telling members of the state Democratic Party’s Jewish caucus that he regretted how he addressed the incident.

El-Sayed spoke to the Jewish caucus during the party’s nominating convention in Lansing. His appearance came as he continues efforts to rebuild relationships with Jewish voters following his Democratic primary victory earlier this month.

The former county health director was questioned about comments he made after an attempted attack targeting the preschool at the West Bloomfield synagogue. At the time, he had said, “Hurt people hurt people,” while attempting to place the incident within a broader political context.

Looking back on those remarks, El-Sayed acknowledged Saturday, “I made a mistake.”

“If my statement caused pain, I’m sorry. It was not what I intended to do,” El-Sayed continued. Referencing the first of two statements he had made about the attack, he added: “We issued a statement, of course, condemning it, and that just should have been it, full stop.”

El-Sayed had initially condemned the attack before issuing a second statement that discussed Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. That statement noted that the individual responsible for the synagogue attack had lost family members in an Israeli airstrike. His decision to introduce that context drew criticism from many Jewish voters, some of whom viewed his remarks as an attempt to explain or justify the violence.

During Saturday’s meeting, El-Sayed maintained that discussing broader circumstances surrounding an attack can have value, but said such a discussion should not have been introduced while people were still experiencing immediate pain.

He explained that those broader “conversations” could take place “in the fullness of time.”

“Sometimes you can’t really see context in the moment of acuity or pain,” he said. “The intention for me was not to trample that pain. It was not to discount it. It was not at all to justify any sort of domestic terrorism. That’s wrong, full stop.”

The apology came after a Jewish Democrat attending the meeting directly questioned El-Sayed about his earlier comments. His outreach to Jewish voters has intensified since his primary victory, and he is scheduled to participate in another Jewish caucus event Sunday honoring Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, with congressional nominee Jeremy Moss also expected to attend.

Both Nessel and Moss have publicly clashed with El-Sayed over issues involving Israel and the Jewish community.

El-Sayed has made several other adjustments to his campaign messaging in recent days. He has softened some of his previous criticism of Israel during campaign appearances and publicly distanced himself from Hasan Piker, the far-left political streamer who was once aligned with the campaign and has faced accusations of antisemitism.

Later Saturday, El-Sayed accepted the Democratic nomination in a speech that contained only an indirect reference to American military support for Israel. He said, “It shouldn’t be this hard to pay your taxes and know that that money’s going to be spent on you, and your kids, and your schools, instead of being dropped in the form of a bomb on somebody else, and their kids, and their school.”

Despite the apology, the atmosphere among roughly 30 Jewish Democrats attending the caucus meeting remained cautious. The gathering included a delegate who said his daughter and grandson were inside Temple Israel during the attack.

“Our safety as Jews in America relies on, I think, what’s said by public figures, and how they present themselves in public, and how they advocate for Jews in public,” the delegate said shortly before El-Sayed addressed the controversy.

El-Sayed also faced questions about his position on the two-state solution, a longstanding component of Democratic foreign-policy discussions concerning Israelis and Palestinians. Asked whether he would support that framework as a senator, he declined to endorse it outright and instead emphasized a process focused on rights and self-determination.

“It’s incoherent to start with a solution and say, ‘Figure out how to work here,’” El-Sayed said. “To me, it’s about starting with a process and saying, ‘How do we dignify equal rights to peace, dignity and self-determination for Palestinian people and Jewish Israelis alike?’”

He said he remains open to a two-state arrangement if Israelis and Palestinians themselves choose that path.

“It’s incoherent to start with a solution and say, ‘Figure out how to work here,’” El-Sayed said. “To me, it’s about starting with a process and saying, ‘How do we dignify equal rights to peace, dignity and self-determination for Palestinian people and Jewish Israelis alike?’”

He added that he would consider a two-state outcome “if that’s what a free Palestinian and free Jewish Israeli people decide.” But he also argued, “Our country, under the guise of a two-state solution, has been aiding, arming and abetting a government that wants to foreclose on the possibility of a second state.”

That position generated concern among some attendees, even though several Jewish Democrats welcomed his apology over the Temple Israel remarks.

Rebecca Kasen, a Jewish Democrat from the Lansing area who attended the meeting, said she appreciated El-Sayed taking responsibility for his earlier comments.

“I really liked him apologizing for misspeaking. We’ve all made comments that we regret later on,” Kasen told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “I was less comfortable with what he said about not supporting a two-state solution.”

Still, Kasen said the apology changed her overall impression of the candidate. She indicated that she was more prepared to support him than she had been before the meeting.

“I was probably a more reluctant voter for him” beforehand, she said. That had changed: “Instead of just going to vote now, I am going to be enthusiastically voting for him.”

The controversy surrounding El-Sayed is unfolding as Michigan’s Senate contest takes on heightened national importance. With control of the Senate potentially at stake in the 2026 midterm elections, Jewish Democrats in the state are facing increased attention over how they view their party’s candidates.

Some longtime Jewish Democratic voters have considered supporting Republican Senate candidate and former Rep. Mike Rogers, while disagreements over Israel and antisemitism have produced tense moments within the state Democratic Party.

At the convention, Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit, the Democratic nominee for state attorney general, addressed the Jewish caucus and emphasized the significance of electing a Jewish Democrat to the office.

“We’re going to win and keep the attorney general’s office in the hands of a Michigan Jewish Democrat.”

Notably absent from the convention was Dana Nessel, the state’s highest-ranking Jewish elected official. Nessel had previously announced that she would skip the gathering because she feared becoming the target of antisemitic harassment.

Earlier in the week, Nessel reiterated her concerns about El-Sayed’s Temple Israel comments during an interview with The Atlantic and said she hoped he would eventually retract or clarify them.

Nessel’s son, Zach Nessel, who serves as secretary of the state Jewish Democratic caucus, told members that his mother stayed away because of “agitators” who had confronted her at the party’s spring endorsement convention.

Attendance at Saturday’s Jewish caucus gathering was reportedly below one-third of the level recorded at the spring convention.

Zach Nessel also criticized the state Democratic Party for not acting quickly enough to remove protesters from that earlier gathering. He told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that members of the Jewish community within the party “have a right to be concerned.”

“I think the Democratic Party needs to put more work into addressing their concerns,” Zach Nessel said. “But I think that can’t happen without showing up.”

Moss, a Michigan state senator who has become involved in another dispute connected to El-Sayed, was seen at Saturday’s convention but did not participate in the Jewish caucus programming.

Another El-Sayed ally who spoke to the caucus was Amir Makled, a University of Michigan Board of Regents candidate. Makled has represented members of the university’s pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel encampment movement, which played a role in the removal of a Jewish, pro-Israel incumbent at an earlier party convention.

During his remarks to Jewish delegates, Makled did not address previous social media activity that included sharing posts from far-right antisemitic conspiracy theorist Candace Owens and material praising Hezbollah figures.

In a later speech at the party convention, Makled referred indirectly to his involvement with the campus demonstrations, saying Michigan “will never have a university where students are punished simply because their speech makes the powerful uncomfortable.”

Between meetings with candidates, Jewish caucus members discussed their concerns about the approaching midterm elections and the political challenges facing their community.

Many said they remained deeply focused on protecting democracy and election security from what they viewed as Republican threats and considered Democratic efforts to regain Senate control important.

At the same time, some participants acknowledged that persuading Jewish voters to unite behind the Democratic ticket could prove difficult because of El-Sayed’s positions and those of other candidates on the slate.

Michigan has an estimated Jewish population of about 100,000, while the Senate contest is being closely contested in polling. That combination could make Jewish voters particularly significant in a race where relatively small shifts in support could matter.

One attendee summarized the dilemma facing the group by asking:

“How do we unify our community to put the country first?” one attendee asked the group. “I have a hard time doing that.”I preserved the supplied quotations verbatim, but there is one accidental repeated quotation in the source material’s two-state-solution section; I can also produce a cleaner publication-ready version with that duplication removed and the article tightened further.

A US federal judge has ruled that immigration laws used by the Trump administration to revoke visas and pursue deportation proceedings against noncitizen college students over pro-Palestinian advocacy and criticism of Israel violate the Constitution.

In a sharply worded decision, US District Judge Noel Wise of San Jose, California, criticized the State Department and Department of Homeland Security for using federal immigration provisions to pursue deportation against noncitizens because of speech and political views the government sought to discourage.

Wise, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, emphasized that freedom of expression, including the right to criticize government officials and government policies, is an important indicator of a democratic society.

“That strength is diminished when members of our society, citizens and noncitizens alike must self-censor and ‘behave’ or suffer the government’s retaliation,” she said.

The State Department and Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Wise’s decision examined actions taken by the Trump administration beginning in March 2025, when officials began revoking visas and detaining noncitizens involved in pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel activism on college campuses. The crackdown began with the arrest of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who is separately challenging efforts to deport him.

The arrests subsequently became central to a lawsuit filed in August 2025 by The Stanford Daily, Stanford University’s student newspaper. The publication argued that some of its student-visa-holding writers had stopped covering pro-Palestinian demonstrations and Middle East-related issues because they feared consequences under the administration’s immigration policies.

Attorneys for the newspaper contended that two sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act used by the administration to revoke student visas and pursue deportations violated the First and Fifth Amendments when applied to constitutionally protected expression.

The provisions gave Secretary of State Marco Rubio authority to determine that a noncitizen was deportable if, in his personal judgment, that individual’s conduct “compromises a compelling foreign policy interest.” The provisions also gave him broad authority to revoke visas.

Wise sided with the newspaper, concluding that when a person’s speech serves as the basis for revoking a visa and pursuing deportation, “the government is singling out that speech for disfavored treatment based on its viewpoint or content.”

Conor Fitzpatrick, whose Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression represented The Stanford Daily, welcomed the decision in a statement, saying the ruling “proves that free speech isn’t a privilege, but the inalienable right of every man, woman, and child.”

The ruling echoes a decision issued last year by US District Judge William Young in Boston. Young likewise concluded that the administration had violated the Constitution by implementing a policy aimed at revoking visas, arresting, detaining and deporting foreign students and faculty members involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy.

Wise also warned that the government’s approach could eventually extend beyond pro-Palestinian activism to other forms of expression that officials find objectionable. She cautioned that “targets may include anyone in the United States who exercises their freedom of speech to simply express opinions the government does not like.”

“This downward spiral is antithetical to our Constitution that recognizes our right to speak freely,” she wrote. “Here you can simultaneously hate the content of a person’s speech and love the country that cherishes the freedom to allow it.”If you want, I can also make this more forceful and newspaper-like, more neutral and Reuters-style, or more concise for a news website while keeping the quotations unchanged.

A mother and her two children were struck by a vehicle in the parking lot of NPGS in Jackson, NJ, Friday late morning, prompting first responders to declare a mass casualty incident (MCI).

Tragically, one of the children, an 8 month old infant, did not survive.

The Tzibur is asked to Daven for the mother and daughter Golda Chana bas Leah Shaindel, and Rochel bas Golda Chana.

Belaaz reached out to the Jackson Township Police Department for comment. A representative said the department is not releasing any information on the incident at this time.

Belaaz will update as soon as official information becomes available.

The IDF carried out a targeted airstrike Friday in Jenin, in Samaria, killing Qais Bitawi, identified by Israeli security forces as a senior Hamas commander, along with two accomplices.

Qais Bitawi On The Hilltops Outside Jenin with his Weapon

The operation was conducted jointly by the IDF, Yamam, Shin Bet and Military Intelligence. Bitawi was accused of directing, funding and carrying out attacks while maintaining ties with Hamas networks in Gaza and abroad.

The IDF Footage from the Air Strike.

The strike took place as part of Operation Iron Wall, launched in early 2025 across northern Judea and Samaria, including Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas, to dismantle armed networks such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

As part of the operation, Israeli forces have established semi-permanent military outposts in cleared refugee camps, marking the longest continuous Israeli troop deployment in northern Judea and Samaria in decades.

King Harald V of Norway has died peacefully at the age of 89, ending his 35-year reign. The Royal Palace confirmed his death at Rikshospitalet in Oslo as Norway lowered flags to half-mast.

His son, Crown Prince Haakon, immediately became King Haakon VIII, beginning a new era for the Norwegian monarchy. Harald was widely respected as a unifying national figure, particularly after the 2011 terrorist attacks and through his famous speeches promoting unity and inclusion.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said: “A whole nation is in mourning. King Harald loved Norway, and Norway loved its King.”

A chemical storage tank at a Washington state paper mill had been declared “not fit for continued service” roughly 10 months before it ruptured in May, killing 11 workers in one of the deadliest U.S. workplace accidents in recent years, according to a federal report released Friday.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board’s latest findings concerning the May 26 tank failure in Longview are part of an investigation that remains underway. The rupture sent a massive volume of caustic liquid through the facility with enough force to blow out walls. Investigators said they have not yet determined exactly what caused the tank to fail.

According to the board, the inspection contractor recommended that Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company conduct internal examinations of the tank and make repairs to its shell. No such work was carried out between the contractor’s July 2025 inspection and the May 2026 disaster.

A request for comment was sent to Nippon Dynawave. An individual who answered the telephone at the company’s Longview facility declined to comment, while a separate message seeking a response was left with the company.

During an external inspection in July 2025, the contractor discovered “significant thinning” in the lower sections of the tank, with portions falling below the minimum thickness considered safe, the federal report said. That minimum threshold is used to determine whether a tank can safely withstand the pressure created by its contents while also supporting its own weight.

The same contractor returned to examine the tank’s exterior in October 2025 and again in February 2026. Both inspections concluded that “large portions of the tank remained thinner than the calculated minimum safe wall thickness.”

“The company also did not remove the tank from operation or derate the tank for reduced service,” the board said.

The May rupture released an estimated 900,000 gallons (3.4 million liters) of white liquor, a highly caustic chemical mixture used in the papermaking process to break down wood. The substance can cause severe chemical burns. Eleven workers died, while several other people and a firefighter were injured.

The July 2025 inspection documentation included in the federal update classified the situation as “Priority 1: Not fit for continued service unless corrected,” and warned of a “high likelihood/consequence of failure (or) critical code/standard deficiency.”

“Owner should plan to have an internal inspection performed in order to determine the extent of the required repairs. It’s likely that the entire shell course should be replaced,” the inspection excerpt says.

The inspection was performed by Applied Technical Services LLC. The federal report did not explain why the contractor had been hired to conduct the examinations.

The tank failed only minutes after workers began arriving at the mill at about 7 a.m., according to investigators.

The sequence of events began several hours earlier. At approximately 2 a.m., a vessel known as a digestor was taken offline so repairs could be performed. That stopped the normal transfer of white liquor from the tank into the digestor, but the chemical continued flowing into the tank. By about 6:20 a.m., the tank was nearing its capacity. It ruptured less than an hour later.

The released chemical first inundated the courtyard, crushing vehicles and damaging part of a nearby building. It then spread into lower levels of surrounding buildings, where employees had gathered for morning meetings.

Eight workers inside the electrical maintenance shop and another worker in the courtyard were killed. Five employees and a foreman in the mechanical maintenance shop managed to escape, but two others in that area died after being exposed to the chemical. Two of those who survived suffered serious chemical burns.

The company contacted its medical emergency response team after the incident but failed to tell responders that white liquor had been released, the report said. One emergency team member entered a pool of the chemical while attempting to rescue a worker, believing the liquid was water. The responder suffered serious chemical burns.

Earlier in the week, the Washington Department of Ecology notified Nippon Dynawave of 35 environmental violations. The state agency is responsible for overseeing the facility’s air and water permits as well as compliance with environmental waste regulations.

The Chemical Safety Board emphasized that its investigation has not been completed. The agency said its full conclusions and findings will be presented in its final investigative report.

The United States appears to be gaining the upper hand in the battle for the Strait of Hormuz, with U.S. officials saying American military operations have significantly reduced Iran’s ability to control the vital waterway.

The strait has been one of Iran’s most important sources of leverage since the war began in late February. What started as a campaign to weaken Iran’s missile capabilities and dismantle its remaining nuclear program has increasingly become a broader struggle over one of the world’s most critical energy routes.

U.S. officials say the changing situation in Hormuz could represent a major turning point in the conflict. They believe increased shipping through the waterway could gradually ease pressure on global energy markets while potentially giving Washington greater leverage in negotiations with Tehran.

“That sucker is open. The Iranian response is very mild. They don’t want us to go back at them. That’s the whole ball game. The rest doesn’t matter,” President Trump told Axios in a phone interview on Thursday.

When the war began, the Strait of Hormuz remained open and oil continued flowing normally to international markets. Brent crude was trading at roughly $72 a barrel at the time.

Two Israeli officials said the decision to close the waterway was initiated by then-commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, General Alireza Tangsiri.

Iran announced within the first 72 hours of the war that it was closing the strait and warned that tankers attempting to pass through would be attacked. Israeli and U.S. officials said Tangsiri also ordered naval mines to be placed in the Traffic Separation Scheme, the main international shipping route through the strait.

Tangsiri was killed three weeks later in an Israeli airstrike in Bandar Abbas, Iran.

The combination of attacks on commercial vessels and the threat posed by naval mines brought shipping through the strait to a near standstill. Brent crude subsequently climbed as high as $126 a barrel.

Rising U.S. gasoline prices and mounting pressure on global energy markets were among the factors behind Trump’s decision to agree to a ceasefire on April 8. The economic disruption was also a central element of the pressure Iran had sought to impose.

Reopening the strait became a key part of a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding signed two months later. But the waterway never returned completely to normal, and the agreement eventually collapsed.

After the MOU fell apart, the U.S. military began a unilateral effort to restore access through the strait. Working with the United Arab Emirates, American forces began escorting ships through the southern channel while providing air protection and intercepting Iranian drones and cruise missiles.

A two-week U.S. bombing campaign also weakened the IRGC’s ability to attack vessels moving through the waterway. At the same time, Navy divers, SEALs, underwater and surface drones, and private contractors participated in an extensive operation to locate and remove mines.

The United States also restored a blockade of Iranian ports.

Although shipping and oil exports remain well below pre-war levels, U.S. officials say conditions in the strait have improved substantially. Iran has lost much of its previous control, while American forces now effectively control most of the waterway.

Iranian forces continue to fire at ships, but their ability to hit vessels accurately appears limited. A U.S. official said only 2% of ships that passed through the strait over the past month were struck.

More than 200 mine-like objects have been removed from the main shipping lane. U.S. officials say just 11 were confirmed to be actual mines, with only a few having been properly deployed.

Traffic through the southern channel has also increased in recent weeks. U.S. officials say between 20 and 30 tankers are now passing through each night, carrying an average of 9 million to 10 million barrels of oil. That represents approximately half of the pre-war volume.

“We achieved a major milestone in the Strait of Hormuz. Internationally recognized sea routes in the strait are free of Iranian sea mines. Bottom line: Today international shipping lanes are open and momentum is building,” CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said in a video posted Thursday night.

Despite the U.S. assessment, some oil analysts and tanker-tracking companies remain skeptical about the reported shipping volumes. U.S. officials maintain that outside estimates are undercounting the amount of traffic moving through the strait.

Reports of oil tankers being struck by projectiles have also continued to raise questions about the safety of commercial shipping, even as Washington maintains that the route is becoming increasingly secure.

The U.S.-backed effort to restore energy shipments is showing signs of gaining momentum. The UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait have already joined the operation, while Saudi Arabia is expected to participate as well.

U.S. officials are also hoping Qatar will soon begin sending liquefied natural gas tankers through the U.S.-protected route.

Washington hopes to expand the main shipping channel by the middle of September so that at least 50 ships can travel into and out of the Gulf each night. The longer-term objective is to restore oil exports to between 60% and 70% of pre-war levels.

Meanwhile, signs of renewed diplomatic activity are emerging. Two regional sources told Axios that Iran has shown greater interest in negotiations in recent days.

The commander of Pakistan’s army traveled to Tehran on Sunday in an effort to revive mediation between Washington and Tehran. Oman’s foreign minister later visited Tehran to discuss the Strait of Hormuz.

Qatar’s prime minister, whose country has played a major mediating role between Iran and the United States, also traveled to Tehran on Thursday at Iran’s request, according to the regional sources.

Iran has publicly maintained its existing negotiating position, calling on the United States to implement the MOU and agree to terms for reopening the strait.

Trump, however, says he is not currently interested in negotiating with Iran.

“I don’t want to meet, they do. In fact, they are begging to make a deal,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday.

Despite Trump’s public position, White House envoy Steve Witkoff continues to communicate with Qatar and other intermediaries.

U.S. negotiators are examining whether the blockade, broader economic pressure campaign and growing American influence over the Strait of Hormuz can force Iran to moderate its demands.

U.S. officials believe the changing balance of power in the waterway has strengthened Washington’s position ahead of any future negotiations.

The Trump administration also views the June 17 MOU, which partly addressed the Strait of Hormuz, as no longer relevant. Separate discussions between Oman and Iran over new arrangements for managing the waterway are likewise being treated by U.S. officials as a secondary matter.

For now, the battle over Hormuz appears to be shifting in Washington’s favor, with the United States seeking to turn increased control of the strategic waterway into both an economic advantage and greater leverage over Iran.

Seven protesters accused of defacing US President Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland last year could receive tougher sentences if convicted, after prosecutors alleged that the offenses were linked to a “terrorist connection.”

The defendants, who were activists with the now-banned Palestine Action group, were charged last year with criminal damage after allegedly spray-painting pro-Palestinian messages on walls at the resort. The graffiti included the slogans “Free Gaza” and “Free Palestine,” along with insults directed at Trump.

One of the golf course greens was marked with the words “Gaza is not for sale,” while sections of the course were also dug up.

According to an indictment released by the Scottish courts service on Friday, the seven defendants “did maliciously dig up turf on the golf courses,” used weedkiller on fairways and greens, and painted “political and offensive slogans on the grass.”

Prosecutors said they would seek tougher sentences if the defendants are convicted, arguing that the alleged crimes were “aggravated by reason of having a terrorist connection.” The seven accused are scheduled to make their first court appearance on Monday.

Palestine Action was formally banned under Britain’s terrorism laws in July 2025, following an escalation in its campaign against defense companies linked to Israel, particularly Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest defense contractor. The government imposed the ban shortly after activists broke into the Royal Air Force’s Brize Norton base in June 2025 and damaged two military aircraft.

Under the UK’s Terrorism Act, belonging to or supporting the protest organization is a criminal offense that can carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

The United States also designated Palestine Action as a terrorist organization on Wednesday, following Britain’s move, as part of the Trump administration’s campaign against what it describes as “far-left extremists.”

The campaign group Defend Our Juries said the seven defendants could face substantially longer prison terms if convicted and subjected to terrorist-related sentencing provisions, despite not being formally charged with terrorism offenses.

“It’s now all too clear why the White House has designated Palestine Action as a global terror organization, alongside al Qaeda,” a spokesperson for the group said. “It’s because members of Palestine Action upset the president in March 2025 by making a mess of his golf course.”

Founded in 2020, Palestine Action became increasingly prominent through major demonstrations and acts of vandalism after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel triggered a two-year war in Gaza. The organization says its objective is to end “global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime.”

The United Kingdom’s Supreme Court said last month that it would hear an appeal challenging a lower court decision that upheld the legality of the government’s ban on Palestine Action.

By July 2026, approximately 3,000 people had been arrested in Britain for displaying signs supporting Palestine Action.

In June, a judge sentenced four activists to prison after they raided an Elbit facility near Bristol in 2024 and caused more than £1 million in damage. During the incident, one of the activists struck a police officer twice in the back with a sledgehammer, leaving her with a fractured spine.

Human rights organizations and prominent supporters have criticized the punishment as excessive.

Several days later, Britain’s Court of Appeal upheld the government’s prohibition of Palestine Action, ruling that the organization “overtly promoted unlawful violence amounting to terrorism.” Huda Ammori, the group’s co-founder, is now seeking to challenge the ban’s implementation before the UK Supreme Court.

“The news that the defendants could face terror sentencing, and that Trump is now following Britain’s lead by banning Palestine Action in the US should be the final nail in the coffin of this ban, which has become one of the most extreme attacks on free speech and the right to protest in modern British history,” she said in a statement.

The IDF and Shin Bet carried out targeted strikes in Khan Younis, eliminating two Hamas Nukhba operatives who infiltrated the Re’im base during the October 7 massacre. One of those killed, Razeq Sahil Suleiman Abu Shahma, previously served as Yahya Sinwar’s bodyguard.

The IDF said the terrorists were recently working to rebuild Hamas’s capabilities and advance attacks against Israeli troops and civilians, violating the cease-fire. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said the pursuit of October 7 terrorists “continues.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed that Israel will not allow Hamas to rebuild or return to the pre-October 7 reality, saying, “There will be no return to the state of affairs prior to October 7.”

DEVIGHAT, Nepal (AP) — Rescue crews continued searching Thursday for hundreds of people still unaccounted for along the Nepal-China border after a catastrophic surge of water and mud, reaching several stories high, tore through communities a day earlier.

Videos from the disaster showed people fleeing as powerful floodwaters engulfed them, destroying buildings and sweeping away bridges. Police said at least 353 people had died, while more than 1,300 remained missing, among them dozens of foreign nationals and pilgrims. Hundreds more people have been forced from their homes throughout the Himalayan region.

Rescue crews were still searching Thursday for hundreds of people missing near the Nepal-China border after devastating floods and mudflows ripped through several communities.

The steep terrain and green valleys beneath the Himalayan range — which contains many of the world’s highest mountains — face a particularly high risk of floods and landslides. Climate change has contributed to increasingly rapid glacier melt and other changes in the region.

Photographs from Nepal’s badly affected Nuwakot district showed mud covering what appeared to be the second floors of buildings after the torrent swept through. Debris was left dangling from trees and power lines, vehicles were buried beneath mud and wreckage, and survivors were seen covered in mud and visibly shaken.

Nirajan Paudyal, a journalist based in Kathmandu, said he was deeply concerned about his parents and other family members living in the small village of Soley in the district.

“There is no update till now. I fear there won’t be any update,” Paudyal said.

The disaster has underscored the growing dangers facing communities in the Himalayas as extreme flooding continues to threaten populated valleys and remote mountain communities.

A second commercial oil tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, intensifying concerns over shipping security as Iran and Oman continued discussions about how the strategic waterway could be managed.

The latest incident comes as the United States prepares to send the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group to the Middle East for a deployment expected to last at least seven months.

Second tanker struck in Strait of Hormuz

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization (UKMTO) said an oil tanker near Oman was struck by an unidentified projectile. The impact sparked a fire aboard the vessel, but the blaze was later extinguished.

“Local authorities have reported a tanker has been hit by an unknown projectile causing fire to the vessel which has since been extinguished,” the organization wrote in its warning.

UKMTO said all members of the crew were accounted for and reported safe, with no environmental damage reported following the incident.

“All crew are reported as safe and accounted for and there has been no report of environmental impact,” the warning continued.

Authorities were investigating the circumstances surrounding the attack. UKMTO urged ships operating in the area to exercise caution and notify the organization about suspicious activity.

“Authorities are investigating. Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO,” the message concluded.

The incident marks the second reported strike against a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz this week. On Monday, another projectile hit the engine room of a tanker sailing under the Liberian flag.

Qatar seeks to ease U.S.-Iran tensions

Against the backdrop of the attacks, Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani is expected to travel to Tehran on Thursday for diplomatic talks aimed at reducing tensions between Iran and the United States.

Doha said the visit is intended to “discuss ways to de-escalate tensions and create the conditions conducive to dialogue.”

Qatar has acted as an important intermediary between Washington and Tehran during the conflict. The country also played a significant role in diplomatic efforts that produced a memorandum of understanding between the two countries in June, although that agreement has since expired.

U.S. prepares new military deployment

The developing maritime crisis comes as the U.S. military moves toward another major deployment in the region.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group is expected to arrive in the Middle East in the coming weeks and remain deployed for a minimum of seven months, adding another major American naval presence to an already tense region.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices remained near $82 per barrel Thursday. Prices have declined for three consecutive days as the conflict has entered what has been described as a less kinetic phase.

Iran and Oman discuss control of key waterway

Iran and Oman are continuing negotiations over an arrangement to jointly manage the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important shipping routes.

Officials affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced Wednesday that an agreement had been reached, although discussions surrounding the proposed arrangement were continuing.

The strait remains a critical passage for global energy shipments, making any disruption there a major concern for international markets and commercial shipping.

Washington intensifies economic pressure on Tehran

The United States is also expanding its economic campaign against Iran through Operation Economic Outcast, a strategy focused on restricting Iranian access to revenue.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has compared the effort to an “economic D-Day,” with Washington targeting Iranian income streams including revenue connected to oil smuggling.

The latest campaign follows the Trump administration’s earlier Maximum Pressure strategy, which sought to restrict Iran’s economic resources and prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

According to an opinion analysis by Victoria Coates, the administration’s new sanctions strategy is intended to increase pressure on Tehran and strengthen Washington’s leverage in negotiations over a potential nuclear agreement.

“This is an excerpt from an opinion article by Victoria Coates.”

Azerbaijan caught between regional powers

The conflict is also creating challenges for Azerbaijan, which borders Iran and maintains close military ties with Israel.

Azerbaijan has officially maintained a neutral position, but tensions with Tehran have increased amid concerns over Baku’s cooperation with Israel and its reliance on Israeli military equipment.

Iranian drones struck the Nakhchivan exclave along the countries’ shared border in March. One drone reportedly hit the passenger terminal at Nakhchivan International Airport, while another landed near a school in the village of Shakarabad on March 5.

At the same time, Azerbaijan must manage relationships with Turkey and Russia while continuing efforts toward a peace agreement with neighboring Armenia.

International law and security researcher Farid Shukurlu told the Jerusalem Post that the tensions are rooted in Tehran’s actions rather than public sentiment in Azerbaijan.

“Even though Azerbaijan’s position was formally neutrality, the country was still targeted by the IRGC in the Nakhchivan enclave.”

Shukurlu also pointed to the expanding defense relationship between Baku and Jerusalem.

“The military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel is at an all-time high.”

With commercial vessels facing renewed threats in the Strait of Hormuz, diplomatic efforts underway and additional U.S. military forces preparing to enter the region, the crisis continues to carry significant consequences for shipping, energy markets and the broader Middle East security environment.

The Trump administration is considering a sweeping new round of tariffs on semiconductors, a move that is already unsettling the U.S. technology sector as companies struggle to secure enough advanced chips to meet the explosive demand created by artificial-intelligence data centers.

One proposal being examined would significantly broaden the range of technology products covered by the tariffs. The duties could extend beyond semiconductors to products that depend on them, including laptops, gaming consoles and the servers packed into data centers. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick supports an approach that would link foreign companies’ access to tariff relief to commitments to expand semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, according to four people familiar with the discussions.

Officials are also considering gradually introducing the new tariffs, according to those people. However, the proposal remains under development and could change substantially before the administration settles on a final framework.

The individuals familiar with the discussions were granted anonymity because they were describing private government deliberations.

The prospect of additional chip tariffs is particularly concerning for U.S. technology companies because the industry is already facing tight supplies of advanced semiconductors. Demand has surged as companies pour money into the construction of data centers designed to support artificial-intelligence systems.

Industry advocates say they support President Trump’s objective of expanding semiconductor manufacturing inside the United States. But they point out that advanced chip factories require billions of dollars and can take many years — potentially decades — to construct and bring fully online. In the meantime, American companies remain highly reliant on Asian suppliers, including Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan. Taiwan alone accounts for more than 90 percent of the world’s most advanced semiconductor production.

The dispute highlights a fundamental tension within the administration’s technology strategy. Efforts to rebuild America’s semiconductor industry could collide with Trump’s ambition to make the United States the global leader in artificial intelligence. While tariffs are intended to encourage manufacturers to move production to the United States, technology companies warn that taxing imported chips could make the hardware needed for the AI boom more expensive and potentially force companies to reconsider planned data-center projects.

“This data center buildout, in scale and dollars, has been compared to building the transcontinental railroad,” said Jonathan McHale, digital policy chief at the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which counts major tech companies such as Amazon, Google and Meta as members. “Anytime you add to the cost and decrease predictability you make it more difficult to invest, and you are putting that in jeopardy.”

The White House defended the administration’s use of trade policy as a way to strengthen domestic manufacturing.

“Reshoring semiconductor manufacturing is a top priority for President Trump, whose policies have already secured hundreds of billions of dollars of investments in this key sector,” said White House spokesperson Kush Desai. “The Trump administration remains focused on delivering more investments and economic relief for the American people while safeguarding our national security.”

The Commerce Department did not answer multiple requests for comment.

Technology companies have responded with an aggressive lobbying campaign aimed at persuading the Trump administration to narrow the expected tariffs. Industry representatives want the new measures to more closely resemble duties announced by the president earlier this year, which included broad exemptions for data centers and other domestic applications and therefore limited their effect on the sector.

Industry representatives and lobbyists have also held increasingly frequent meetings with senior administration officials since the beginning of summer. Among those involved is Commerce Undersecretary Jeffrey Kessler, who oversees the department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, as well as Lutnick.

Lobbyists are warning that tariffs could slow the rapid expansion of data centers by making it more difficult for American companies to obtain the enormous quantities of semiconductors required to power the AI industry. The timing is especially concerning because U.S. technology giants are already engaged in a record-breaking spending surge on artificial intelligence, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to massive data-center campuses while competing for scarce, expensive advanced chips.

“This may be the single dumbest way imaginable to pursue American dominance in AI,” said one tech official from a major industry group that also served in the first Trump administration. “It’s like kneecapping yourself at the starting line.”

Several lobbyists came away from their discussions believing Kessler was more receptive to the industry’s concerns. However, they also emphasized that Lutnick has the final say and that Kessler was unlikely to substantially oppose his preferred approach.

“Every conversation is some version of: ‘Please, tread carefully. You don’t understand how much demand is coming, or how little capacity we have to meet it,’” said the tech official.

More recent discussions have become less encouraging for the technology industry, according to three people familiar with the matter. Administration officials have indicated that they may abandon exemptions similar to those included in the January tariffs. Those exemptions previously covered data centers, research and development, startups, consumer applications, civil industrial uses and public-sector projects, along with “other uses” that the Commerce secretary determines would strengthen the U.S. supply chain.

Instead, Commerce officials have increasingly argued in private conversations that the tariffs must apply more broadly to companies in order to pressure semiconductor manufacturers into expanding production within the United States.

Under the framework favored by Lutnick, the United States would establish a duty-free allowance for a specified quantity of imported chips. That allowance would be connected to the amount of semiconductor production companies commit to establishing domestically. The approach could create a widening mismatch between the number of chips eligible for tariff-free entry and the much larger quantities American businesses actually require, according to four people familiar with the proposal.

People briefed on the discussions said Commerce officials have not yet determined the exact tariff rates or several other important details. One proposal would establish different tariff rates and import quotas for individual countries, with separate guidance applying to major semiconductor manufacturers in each nation, according to four people familiar with the matter.

Most semiconductors and related components used by American companies come from Asian trading partners. Beyond the goal of expanding advanced chip manufacturing in the United States, administration trade hawks are also concerned about the national-security risks created by U.S. dependence on Taiwanese semiconductor production in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

“Getting supply chains de-risked is one of the central geopolitical questions of our lifetime,” said Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow at the right-leaning Hudson Institute think tank and a former aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). But Sobolik added, “It’s going to be really expensive to, at scale, build a lot of these chips in the United States, because there are a lot of other cheaper places in the world where you can do that.”

Technology lobbyists and economists say the consequences could extend well beyond data-center construction. Tariffs would increase the price of imported semiconductors used by U.S. companies to manufacture servers, computers, televisions and other electronics. The measures could also hurt American chip designers such as Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, which depend on overseas manufacturers to produce their semiconductors.

The tariffs could also put companies such as Apple at a competitive disadvantage in overseas markets. Foreign manufacturers could purchase identical chips without paying the U.S. duties, while semiconductor suppliers in allied countries might have greater incentives to pursue customers in China.

Sujai Shivakumar, an economist who leads the Renewing American Innovation program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said tariffs alone cannot solve the United States’ semiconductor-production problems. Building a competitive domestic industry requires far more than making imported chips more expensive.

“Higher tariffs can change relative prices, but in themselves, they don’t produce more skilled technicians,” Shivakumar said. “They don’t shorten the permitting timelines. They don’t expand reliable power and water infrastructure. They don’t create qualified suppliers.”

One technology-sector representative emphasized that the industry does support expanding semiconductor manufacturing in the United States.

“The data center industry would love to have a strong domestic semiconductor manufacturing industry, and we’re here to support that on-shoring,” the person said. “But the volume and scale of manufacturing of advanced node chips and memory chips is just not where it needs to be.”

The proposal to connect tariff exemptions with domestic investment resembles a trade agreement Trump reached with Taiwan in January. That arrangement allows Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which manufactures chips designed by U.S. companies such as Apple and Nvidia, to bring certain chips into the United States without tariffs.

For now, however, that arrangement covers only a limited portion of the advanced chips required by the market. TSMC has pledged $265 billion toward its Arizona facilities, representing the largest foreign direct investment in U.S. history. Even after the facilities are fully built, however, the company expects only about 30 percent of its most advanced manufacturing capacity to be located in Arizona, with much of that capacity still years away.

One person from the trade and technology sectors who regularly meets with senior Trump administration officials estimated that establishing sufficient domestic chip-manufacturing capacity would take more than five years. That timeline is substantially longer than the phase-in periods Trump has used for previous tariffs, suggesting that major technology companies could face higher costs long before U.S. production can fill the gap.

“The math literally just does not work,” said the tech representative. “The volume they’re talking about granting duty-free wouldn’t cover the hyperscalers alone, let alone the rest of the industry. Those are chips we physically can’t buy here, because the capacity doesn’t exist yet.”

Nickolay Mladenov, Director-General of the Board of Peace, announced that Hamas agreed to surrender its weapons and transfer the security and civilian authorities under its control to a transitional Palestinian administration, as part of the roadmap tied to President Trump’s Gaza peace plan.

Under the framework, Hamas would hand civilian governance and security functions to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) — a transitional body established under UN Security Council Resolution 2803 and overseen by the Board of Peace. The plan calls for phased disarmament of Hamas and other armed factions, verified by an International Verification Committee, alongside a phased Israeli military withdrawal.

Addressing the UN Security Council, Mladenov said: “For the first time, Hamas and the armed factions in Gaza have agreed to hand over their weapons and to transfer full governing authority—civilian and security—to a transitional administration recognized by the United Nations. We now have the opportunity to dramatically improve life in a sustainable way for Palestinians in Gaza; to provide durable security for Israelis; and to move from a conflict that has destabilized the region to an environment that offers peace, prosperity and economic opportunity for the entire Middle East.”

In an earlier post on X announcing the agreement, Mladenov wrote: “Today, agreement has been reached on the decommissioning of weapons and civilian transition in Gaza. It took months of very difficult negotiations to get here. There were several points when I did not believe we would make it.”

A Hamas negotiator, Ghazi Hamad, said the group would not implement any step of the deal unless Israel first fulfills its own obligations under the agreement.

Analysis: Implementation has stalled in the weeks since the announcement. Israeli officials have raised concerns over how “heavy” versus “light” weapons are defined for disarmament purposes — with reports indicating Hamas considers Kalashnikov rifles “light weapons” not subject to surrender under the current terms. Prime Minister Netanyahu has voiced frustration with the Board of Peace’s handling of the process, and reconstruction and Israeli troop withdrawal remain on hold pending further progress.

Nearly all Democratic members of the US Senate have called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take steps to address what they described as a “surge” in violence involving settlers in the West Bank, while also raising concerns about arrests of Palestinians by Israeli security forces.

A letter sent to Netanyahu and reviewed by Reuters was signed by 45 of the Senate’s 47 Democrats. The lawmakers cited what they characterized as increasing levels of “fatal violence by settlers.”

The senators also asked Israel to increase investigations into the deaths of nine American citizens whom they said [have been killed] by Israeli settlers or Israeli security forces in the West Bank since 2022.

The letter said the “significant surge” in violence in recent weeks had been accompanied by “a large-scale response by Israeli security forces, mass arrests of Palestinians, and reported attacks by settlers on mosques.”

The letter comes amid continuing disagreements between the Israeli government and Democratic lawmakers in Washington over developments in the West Bank. Some Democrats have also called for changes to US military assistance to Israel in connection with its conduct during the wars in Gaza and Iran. Polling has meanwhile indicated that a majority of Democratic voters hold unfavorable views of Israel.

In April, 40 of the Senate’s 47 Democrats voted for measures that would have blocked certain weapons sales to Israel. The measures did not pass.

The letter was drafted by Senators Adam Schiff of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. Schumer has historically been a prominent congressional supporter of Israel. Schumer and Schiff are Jewish, while Booker has longstanding ties to the Jewish community.

The senators asked Netanyahu to provide clear instructions to Israeli police and military personnel to prevent violent confrontations in the West Bank and to intervene when violence occurs “regardless of the perpetrators.”

They also called on the Israeli government to stop approving additional settlements and construction of “illegal outposts in the West Bank.” The lawmakers further urged the government to take steps toward removing existing outposts, citing previous attacks on Palestinians associated with some of the sites.

The Israeli government provides some financial assistance to agricultural outposts and has continued settlement development in the West Bank. Supporters and opponents of settlement expansion have offered differing views about its broader political implications, including its relationship to the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state.

Reports of settler attacks and harassment have increased in recent months. The number of prosecutions has remained limited, while critics have accused the Israeli military and Netanyahu government of failing to do enough to prevent or prosecute such incidents.

On Sunday, settlers near the recently dismantled Kochav Yair outpost, close to Jannatah in the southern West Bank, were filmed during an altercation involving activists and journalists. IDF troops were present at the scene but did not arrest any of those involved, according to the report.

On Friday, a Palestinian teenager was shot and killed by the coordinator of a settlement security squad after settlers entered an area near Sa’ir, a Palestinian village farther south. The incident followed a confrontation between settlers and Palestinians.

US President Donald Trump has made limited public comments about the situation in the West Bank.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has referred to extremist settlers as “Israeli terrorists.” Earlier this month, he told Reuters that people involved in the reported siege of two homes in the northern West Bank village of Qusra could face US sanctions. Huckabee has also defended Israeli settlements more broadly, saying that those involved in violence are “unsettlers” who do not represent the wider settlement movement.

Nearly all Senate Democrats on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take stronger measures against what they described as a “surge” in violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, while also raising concerns about large-scale arrests of Palestinians by Israeli security forces.

A letter sent to Netanyahu and reviewed by Reuters was signed by 45 of the 47 Democrats in the Senate. The lawmakers pointed to rising levels of “fatal violence by settlers.”

The senators also urged Netanyahu’s government to intensify investigations into the deaths of nine American citizens who, according to the lawmakers, have been [killed] by Israeli settlers or Israeli security forces in the West Bank since 2022.

According to the letter, the “significant surge” in violence in recent weeks has prompted “a large-scale response by Israeli security forces, mass arrests of Palestinians, and reported attacks by settlers on mosques.”

The letter represents another indication of increasing tensions between Israel’s government and congressional Democrats over the Israeli approach to the West Bank. Within the Democratic Party, lawmakers have also increasingly called for restrictions on US military assistance to Israel over its actions in the wars in Gaza and Iran. Recent polling has found that a large majority of Democratic voters hold unfavorable views of Israel.

In April, 40 of the Senate’s 47 Democrats voted in favor of measures seeking to block certain weapons sales to Israel, although the efforts ultimately failed.

The letter was prepared by Democratic Senators Adam Schiff of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who has historically been among Israel’s strongest supporters in Congress. Both Schumer and Schiff are Jewish, while Booker has maintained longstanding relationships with the Jewish community.

The senators called on Netanyahu to give explicit orders to Israeli police and military personnel to prevent violent confrontations in the West Bank and intervene when they occur “regardless of the perpetrators.”

They also urged Israel to halt approvals for additional settlements and construction of “illegal outposts in the West Bank” and called for existing outposts to be dismantled. The lawmakers said such sites have been repeatedly linked to attacks against Palestinians.

The Israeli government provides some financial assistance to agricultural outposts and has pursued broader settlement growth across the West Bank. Supporters and opponents of the policy have both described settlement expansion as connected to efforts to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.

Violence by Israeli settlers has increased in recent months, accompanied by frequent attacks and harassment. Prosecutions remain uncommon, while critics have accused the Israeli military and Netanyahu government of tolerating, or even encouraging, such violence.

On Sunday, settlers near the recently dismantled Kochav Yair outpost, close to Jannatah in the southern West Bank, were filmed attacking activists and journalists. IDF soldiers were reportedly present but did not arrest any of the alleged attackers.

On Friday, a Palestinian teenager was shot and killed by the coordinator of a settlement security team after settlers illegally entered an area near Sa’ir, a Palestinian village farther south. The incident followed a confrontation between the settlers and Palestinians.

US President Donald Trump has made relatively few public comments about the situation in the West Bank.

His ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has condemned extremist settlers as “Israeli terrorists.” Earlier this month, Huckabee told Reuters that individuals involved in the siege of two homes in the northern West Bank village of Qusra could potentially face US sanctions. At the same time, he has defended Israeli settlements more broadly, arguing that those responsible for violence are “unsettlers” and do not represent the wider settlement movement.

The IDF said it struck and demolished a structure in the Jabalya area of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday that Hamas had allegedly been using as an ambush position and weapons storage site. The military announced the operation on Wednesday, saying the site was used by Hamas terrorists to prepare attacks and maintain weapons capabilities.

According to the IDF, the structure stood roughly 50 meters from the Yellow Line, about 70 meters from Kamal Adwan Hospital, and approximately 170 meters from a school. The military said the location illustrated what it described as Hamas’s continued use of civilian and humanitarian infrastructure for military purposes, which the IDF said violates both the ceasefire agreement and international law.

The structure was destroyed after several terrorists were killed, the military said. According to the IDF, the Hamas operatives had been preparing to attack Israeli troops while also working to restore the organization’s military capabilities from the site.

The IDF said it took measures intended to reduce the potential danger to civilians during the operation. Those measures included the deployment of precision-guided munitions and aerial surveillance to identify and monitor the target.

IDF, Shin Bet Strike Hamas Weapons-Production Commander

The operation follows a recent joint action by the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), which resulted in the death of terrorist Ismail Abu Pul. The military identified Abu Pul as a commander at a Hamas weapons-production facility and said he was involved in manufacturing explosive charges and anti-tank missiles for the organization.

The strike that killed Abu Pul took place in the Al-Maghazi area of Gaza. The IDF said the weapons-production facility was located near an aid distribution site operated by an international organization.

The military described the attack on the production facility as another example of what it characterized as Hamas’s use of civilian infrastructure to facilitate and carry out attacks against IDF forces operating near the Yellow Line as well as against Israeli civilians.

US President Donald Trump has submitted to Congress a proposed civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, while making clear that Washington will only proceed if Riyadh also normalizes relations with Israel, a US administration official told Reuters on Tuesday.

According to the official, the agreement was finalized in July and would permit American companies to provide Saudi Arabia with civilian nuclear technology. The administration formally transmitted the agreement to Congress on Monday.

Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Washington had not immediately responded to a request for comment.

It remains uncertain how submitting the nuclear agreement to Congress, which has 90 legislative days to review it, is expected to help Trump secure the broader diplomatic objectives he has attached to the pact.

“The president’s position has not changed that the agreement will only move forward if Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords,” the US official said in an email, referring to the US-backed normalization agreements established between Israel and Arab and Muslim-majority countries.

The Abraham Accords were negotiated during Trump’s first presidency and resulted in normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco in 2020 and 2021.

Just days after the nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia was reached in July, Trump reiterated that normalization with Israel would be required before the nuclear pact could take effect. Trump had also pursued a similar agreement with Riyadh during his first term.

Trump’s decision to impose that condition after the agreement was signed came amid criticism from Israel and its supporters, who had expressed concern that the administration was moving ahead without formally linking the nuclear arrangement to Saudi-Israeli normalization.

An official familiar with the matter previously told The Times of Israel that the nuclear agreement signed in July did not contain language requiring Saudi Arabia to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.

Former President Joe Biden had likewise sought a civilian nuclear agreement with Riyadh and favored connecting such a deal to Saudi normalization with Israel. In 2023, diplomats believed the two countries were approaching a possible normalization agreement, but Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the subsequent Gaza war dramatically altered the diplomatic environment.

Saudi Arabia has insisted that it must first receive an irreversible pathway toward Palestinian statehood before it will recognize Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, however, has firmly rejected that demand.

The nuclear agreement is set to remain in effect for 30 years and envisions the construction of AP1000 reactors. The multibillion-dollar project could provide a major commercial opportunity for Westinghouse, which is jointly owned by Canada-based Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management.

The agreement has drawn criticism from some Democratic lawmakers and nuclear nonproliferation advocates because it does not prohibit Saudi Arabia from enriching uranium or reprocessing spent nuclear material. Both activities can potentially provide pathways toward producing nuclear weapons. In its 2009 civilian nuclear agreement with Washington, the United Arab Emirates accepted restrictions on those activities that have since been described as the nuclear “gold standard.”

The Trump administration maintains that the Saudi agreement contains the nonproliferation safeguards required under US law.

By formally initiating the congressional review process, Trump has created the possibility that lawmakers could ultimately permit the nuclear agreement to advance even without the normalization and proliferation conditions he has publicly emphasized, said Henry Sokolski, head of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center.

“This is hardly ideal if you’re serious about no enrichment and recognition of Israel,” Sokolski said.

WASHINGTON — Rabbi Moshe Margaretten, President of the Tzedek Association, met with United States Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday afternoon at the Department of Justice.  

The high-level meeting marks the first time Tzedek leadership has met with Blanche since his confirmation as the 88th Attorney General, though the organization previously held several meetings with him during his tenure as Deputy Attorney General.

Tzedek tells Belaaz that Blanche himself extended the invite to Margeretten.

During the session, AG Blanche expressed gratitude to Tzedek for their strong support during his Senate confirmation process, specifically thanking them for the formal letter sent to President Trump endorsing his nomination to lead the Justice Department.

Belaaz is told that the discussion focused on key criminal justice policy initiatives, including expanding First Step Act Implementation and additional justice reform legislation that Tzedek is actively advancing in coordination with the DOJ.

DEARBORN, Mich. — Nearly a quarter-century after the Sept. 11 attacks, a Smithsonian-affiliated museum in Michigan continues to center its 9/11 exhibits and anniversary programming on discrimination and government actions taken afterward, while devoting comparatively less attention to the nearly 3,000 Americans killed in the attacks, according to a review by Fox News Digital.

The Arab American National Museum (AANM) in Dearborn features an exhibit contending that Arab Americans “suffered two-fold as a result of the tragic events of September 11th,” pointing both to the attacks themselves and what the museum characterizes as unfair treatment by the U.S. government in their aftermath. Since opening, the museum has repeatedly organized events examining what it describes as discriminatory effects stemming from America’s post-9/11 response.

The AANM has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and operates as an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian itself has come under increasing criticism from conservative lawmakers, who have accused the institution of allowing political considerations to shape its presentation of American history.

One exhibit placard focuses on the government’s detention of immigrants investigated for potential terrorist connections following 9/11, stating that “virtually none were charged” with terrorism.

“The Arab American community suffered two-fold as a result of the tragic events of September 11th. As with all Americans, they suffered the horror and grief. However, Arab Americans were unfairly held responsible, yet not a single Arab American was found guilty of any connection to September 11th,” the placard states.

On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 al Qaeda terrorists seized control of four passenger aircraft. Two were flown into New York City’s World Trade Center and another struck the Pentagon. Passengers and crew members aboard United Flight 93 resisted the hijackers, resulting in the aircraft crashing into a field in Pennsylvania. The attacks claimed 2,977 lives and prompted the largest investigation in FBI history.

Another museum placard says Arab Americans encountered tougher immigration enforcement following the attacks, asserting that some were “deported for minor visa violations or petty offenses which previously would have been overlooked.”

According to a Justice Department inspector general report, immigration authorities detained 762 noncitizens on immigration charges during the 11 months following 9/11 as part of the FBI’s terrorism investigation. Some had overstayed visas or entered the United States illegally. The watchdog concluded that certain detainees who had no terrorism connections were subjected to harsh treatment and unnecessarily restrictive detention conditions.

The broader public response to the attacks was more nuanced, however. President George W. Bush repeatedly urged Americans not to blame Muslims for the terrorist attacks. Subsequent polling also indicated that views toward Muslim Americans improved during the immediate aftermath. Pew Research Center data showed the percentage of Americans expressing favorable views of Muslim Americans climbed from 45% in March 2001 to 59% in November, two months after the attacks.

The AANM’s focus on discrimination and law-enforcement practices affecting Arab and Muslim communities also extends into its annual programming surrounding the 9/11 anniversary.

Each year, the museum hosts a “solidarity” town hall that frequently emphasizes criticism of America’s response to the attacks. The event’s online description does not reference the deaths caused by the attacks, instead saying it “offers a safe space for communities to reflect and engage in dialogue about the harmful prejudices that Arab and Muslim (and anyone perceived to be Arab or Muslim) individuals face on both an individual and systemic level.”

A 2018 town hall examined “how communities of color have been targeted through the frame of national security and profiled as violent threats.”

The following year’s annual town hall, which received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, focused on allegations that “institutions and communities of color have been infiltrated” by law enforcement and that leaders within those communities were “targeted” after 9/11.

The AANM opened in 2005, partly in response to heightened scrutiny of Arab Americans following the World Trade Center attacks. Over the course of its existence, the museum has received more than half a million dollars from the NEH for exhibits and educational initiatives. It also received a $385,000 Department of Housing and Urban Development grant that helped expand the museum in 2013. Additional HUD funding totaling more than $500,000 was awarded between 2017 and 2019, while the State Department provided at least $50,000 between 2016 and 2017, according to the museum’s annual reports.

Dearborn is also an important political hub in Michigan heading into one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate contests this year. Approximately 54.5% of the city’s residents are of Middle Eastern or North African descent. Socialist-aligned Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed received significant backing from Dearborn earlier this month.

The museum’s exhibits and programming address issues beyond its portrayal of America’s post-9/11 response.

On Sept. 10, the day before the 25th anniversary of the attacks, the AANM is scheduled to screen “Seeds for Liberation.” The film portrays Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack as part of a decades-long Palestinian “struggle” and situates the attack within a larger history of “anti-imperialist and decolonial movements.”

During a visit earlier this month, Fox News Digital also found an area of the museum devoted to artwork criticizing Israel’s alleged “occupation” of Palestinian territory. One piece displays the word “wall” in stylized lettering and accuses the Israeli government of maintaining a system of “apartheid.”

The broader installation alleges that Israel has targeted civilians during military operations, restricted Palestinians’ access to basic necessities and improperly occupied territory.

One placard displayed alongside a sculpture claims Israel has killed more than 2,000 Palestinian children since Sept. 29, 2000, citing the organization If Americans Knew (IAK).

The sourcing of that claim has generated controversy. Several pro-Palestinian organizations have separated themselves from IAK amid allegations involving antisemitism and connections to White supremacists, accusations the organization has rejected. IAK also runs a news website that has published material disputing Hamas’ classification as a terrorist organization.

Another sculpture features a placard quoting Defense of Children International Palestine (DCIP), which the Israeli government designated as a terrorist organization in 2021. DCIP and human rights organizations have challenged that designation.

Visitors can also find Palestinian-themed items in the museum’s gift shop, including magnets and key chains shaped like maps, coloring books intended to help children “explore Palestinian heritage” and keffiyehs.

Smithsonian affiliates such as the AANM operate independently while maintaining formal relationships with the Smithsonian. Those partnerships can provide access to artifact loans, educational materials and consultations with Smithsonian experts.

The Smithsonian has faced growing pressure in recent months from Republican lawmakers and President Trump over allegations that its museums promote left-leaning ideological perspectives through their exhibits. Officials have warned that the institution could face funding reductions if it fails to address what the Trump administration describes as anti-American bias.

The United Nations on Tuesday strongly criticized Israel’s warning that civilians could be evacuated from parts of Gaza where kites, drones and balloons are launched toward Israel, calling the language used by Israeli officials deeply troubling.

“On the threat of expulsion due to children’s kite flying, I hope we can all agree that this is outrageous,” UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

Israel warned Hamas on Sunday that it would intensify military operations in Gaza if launches of kites, drones and balloons toward Israel continued. The warning followed a recent rise in such incidents, although Hamas has rejected claims that it was responsible.

Israeli media reported that four kites were discovered in communities close to the Gaza border on Saturday, while the army intercepted another on Sunday. The developments brought the number of kites recovered in the area in recent days to roughly 10.

Channel 12 reported Monday that nine kites had been sent from Gaza toward IDF troops during June. The incidents were reportedly not made public at the time and did not prompt an Israeli military response.

The latest incidents have brought back memories of previous waves of incendiary kites and balloons launched from Gaza, some of which caused extensive fires across southern Israel.

Israeli military officials reportedly believe Hamas was responsible for the latest launches. The kites did not contain explosives and may have been intended to gauge how Israel would react.

“Israel warns Hamas that if the launches toward Israel do not stop immediately, the IDF will act to intensify strikes against those responsible for the launches and evacuate populations from areas from which kites, drones and balloons are launched,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday in a joint statement.

Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim rejected the Israeli accusations, saying the kites were “launched from Gaza by children searching for their innocent childhood amid the rubble.”

In another statement, Hamas accused Israel of treating the kite launches as a “pretext” to carry out airstrikes in central Gaza on Sunday. The Hamas-linked civil defense rescue service said three people were killed in those strikes.

The UN spokeswoman said the latest warning was part of what she described as a broader pattern of threatening statements by senior Israeli officials.

“We continue to see unacceptable rhetoric coming from the highest level of the Israeli authorities, showing utter contempt for international human rights and humanitarian law, and advocating and inciting violence amounting to atrocity crimes,” she said.

Katz has faced similar criticism before. He recently drew condemnation after saying that the IDF was “here to stay” in southern Lebanon and was “destroying all the houses” there.

The administration of US President Donald Trump quickly criticized those remarks. A State Department official said Katz’s comments appeared inconsistent with assurances from Jerusalem that Israel had no territorial ambitions in Lebanon.

Human rights organisations say forced military recruitment in Russia has surged since mid-August, fueling concerns that the Kremlin could be preparing another mobilisation campaign following September’s elections.

Russian security services are reportedly detaining civilians in public places and pressuring them to sign military contracts, as growing evidence points to preparations for a potential new recruitment drive for the war in Ukraine.

In mid-August, the Russian human rights organisation Idite lesom received 14 appeals from people who said security forces had detained them and coerced or pressured them into signing military contracts at police stations or military enlistment offices.

The organisation, which assists Russians seeking to avoid participation in the war, said the increase began on August 10th. “There were only isolated round-ups in July, now we are at a peak,” Ivan Chuvilyaev, a representative of the project, told Euronews.

Reported incidents have emerged across Russia, from Novorossiysk to Birobidzhan. Men have allegedly been stopped on the street under the guise of document checks or accusations such as drinking in public, while others were detained at their workplaces or while travelling home.

The Penza region has recorded similar cases since mid-June. During that period, Idite lesom also documented seven instances involving conscript soldiers who were allegedly pressured or forced to sign contracts with Russia’s Defence Ministry.

Prisons have also become part of the recruitment effort, according to Chuvilyaev. He said representatives of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service have been looking for potential contract soldiers in detention centres and prisons.

At the same time, civilian recruiters are reportedly approaching financially vulnerable people, including debtors and unemployed individuals, through job postings, recruitment agencies and personal networks.

“If someone has money problems, the recruiters will find them,” he said. “People realise what they have got into only when they are already at the front.”

Idite lesom says more than 80,000 people have sought assistance from the organisation since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

Mobilisation after the elections?

Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have repeatedly warned that Moscow could announce another mobilisation campaign after September’s State Duma elections.

Western intelligence sources cited by the Wall Street Journal said Russia conducted mobilisation-readiness exercises in the Kaliningrad region last month. The drills reportedly included preparations involving accommodation, food supplies and weapons for residents.

Russian state media separately reported exercises in the same region in July, saying they were intended to practise responses to drone attacks.

Organisations assisting Russians who want to leave the country have also reported a substantial increase in inquiries since mid-July.

“It is reminiscent of the situation in 2022, early 2023,” a coordinator with the German human rights initiative inTransit, who requested anonymity, told Euronews.

“The threat of mobilisation keeps cropping up like a refrain in a large number of requests. People are afraid that they will not be able to leave later if they do not do it now,” the inTransit coordinator said.

“They also fear that they may be forced to sign a contract, even if they resist, or the signature may be forged on their behalf.”

The coordinator said people facing investigations, including politically motivated cases, have also described pressure from prison officials or investigators to sign military contracts and go to war. Some reportedly remain outside detention facilities but are subject to travel restrictions or house arrest.

The concern is spreading beyond Russians traditionally targeted by the Kremlin, such as journalists, human rights advocates and anti-war activists. According to the coordinator, more people without such backgrounds are now considering leaving the country.

Requests from Russians seeking to travel to Georgia and Armenia, where they can enter without visas, and then pursue legal residence in the European Union through ordinary procedures have risen sharply.

Leaving Russia has become more difficult since the Unified Register of Military Records was introduced in May 2025. Once an individual receives a summons and is entered into the system, restrictions on international travel can become considerably harder to avoid.

“There is a high likelihood that their departure will also be restricted from Belarus,” the inTransit coordinator said.

“Now people understand that, in the event of a new mobilisation wave, they may simply be left with no way to leave and will find themselves locked in.”

Moscow bleeding troops

Ukraine’s General Staff and the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies estimate that Russian military losses since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022 have reached roughly 1.4 million personnel. CSIS estimates that as many as 450,000 Russian troops may have been killed.

The think tank estimates that Russia has been losing more than 30,000 personnel each month in 2026, approximately 3,000 more than the estimated 27,000 new contract soldiers it recruits monthly.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said on 15 July at a defence forum in Pennsylvania that the average life expectancy of a newly recruited Russian soldier on the Ukrainian front is between 20 and 30 minutes.

The Kremlin has generally avoided providing a full account of Russia’s battlefield losses.

Russian officials, meanwhile, have rejected claims that another mobilisation is being prepared. “We do not need mass mobilisation at the moment; it is neither planned nor expected,” Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said on Friday. He added, “As far as I know.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday dismissed reports of mobilisation preparations, describing them as efforts to “stir up the situation ideologically” within Russia.

Russia announced a “partial” mobilisation on 21 September 2022. No official decree formally terminating that mobilisation has been issued.

The Sanzer Rebbe of Boro Park, Harav Boruch Halberstam, zt”l, was niftar tonight at age 70 after a prolonged illness.

A descendant of the Divrei Chaim of Sanz and son-in-law of the Kosson-Kozova Rebbe, he was known as a pillar of hachnasas orchim in Boro Park, opening his doors to hundreds.

Canada is preparing to unveil retaliatory tariffs against the United States on Tuesday, following a dramatic deterioration in relations Monday. President Donald Trump warned Canadian leaders to “fall in line” or risk consequences “far WORSE” than the tariffs already in place, while Prime Minister Mark Carney accused the Trump administration of attempting to subordinate Canada.

Trump also threatened to impose new 50% tariffs on Canadian automobiles, auto parts and steel. Carney, meanwhile, said Washington’s trade demands indicated an effort to “destroy our major industries,” including Canada’s auto, steel and aluminum sectors.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and three other Cabinet ministers are expected to announce Ottawa’s response Tuesday morning. Earlier Monday, Carney suggested Canada may no longer respond to U.S. tariffs on a dollar-for-dollar basis, saying the government could instead pursue more selective measures designed to shield Canadian workers and companies.

“An attitude at the negotiation table that Canada is a subsidiary of the United States” is “not something we’re going to accept,” Carney said.

Speaking in French, Carney delivered an even more forceful assessment of the failed negotiations.

“We learned during the negotiations that the Americans want to destroy our major industries, including autos, steel and aluminum,” Carney said. “That was one of the main reasons we said no. It was a bad deal.”

The increasingly hostile rhetoric highlights the depth of the deterioration in relations between the two longtime allies. The latest escalation follows Carney’s decision late Friday to end trade discussions with the Trump administration, prompting Trump to activate threatened 50% tariffs the following day on roughly $20 billion in Canadian products.

The United States and Canada maintain one of the world’s largest trading partnerships, with supply chains closely connected across the automotive, energy, agricultural and manufacturing sectors. A prolonged tariff confrontation could therefore impose significant costs on companies, employees and consumers in both countries.

Carney also questioned whether the United States could still be counted on as a dependable economic partner. He said Canada was increasingly finding trustworthy partners “everywhere in the world, except in the United States. Except in the United States. And Russia.”

The looming Canadian response marks another major escalation in a trade dispute between the two neighboring countries, as Ottawa seeks to protect domestic industries while Washington presses for concessions from one of its closest economic partners.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has condemned rhetoric suggesting that American Jews could face violence because of their support for Israel, saying there is “zero justification” for threats against Jews as antisemitism continues to rise.

The New York Democrat appeared to be responding to recent remarks by Hasan Piker, a prominent left-wing political streamer and surrogate whose commentary has previously drawn accusations of antisemitism. During a livestream last week, Piker blamed Jews for contributing to antisemitism and referred to Israel as the “Jewish ISIS.”

“If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone’s going to come around and take action, not against the State of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews,” Piker said.

Piker also accused Jews of reinforcing the antisemitic trope of dual loyalty and argued that Israel contributes to Islamophobia.

“You’re running around basically tying your entire identity to a country that inevitably will be seen as, basically, Jewish ISIS, and you’re saying, as Jews, ‘This is all we care about.’ You’re making antisemitism worse,” he said.

In a statement, Jeffries rejected the suggestion that American Jews bear responsibility for potential violence against them, calling the argument dangerous and antisemitic.

“The malicious claim that American Jews are inviting violence against themselves is dangerous and antisemitic.”

“There is zero justification for threats against the safety of our Jewish brothers and sisters at a moment of rising hate. We will fight the cancer of antisemitism with the fierce urgency of now,” Jeffries says, without directly identifying Piker in his statement.

Jeffries is the highest-profile Democrat to publicly criticize Piker over his latest remarks.

Piker has also become a visible presence in left-wing Democratic political circles, including campaigns involving New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

Halie Soifer, who leads the Jewish Democratic Council of America, likewise criticized rhetoric that could be interpreted as legitimizing threats against Jews because of Israeli government actions.

“We can’t create a permission structure for the targeting of Jews due to the actions of Israel, which is antisemitic, and there can be no place for rhetoric normalizing violence in our politics.”

“All Democrats should separate themselves from Piker. He’s a gift to Republicans,” she says.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir both delivered statements today after the wreck of the Altalena was located off Israel’s coast, but their separate appearances hinted at friction on the Israeli right over the government’s future direction.

Ben-Gvir and Netanyahu at the scene of a September 8, 2025 terror shooting in Jerusalem that killed six Israelis and wounded more than a dozen.

Netanyahu emphasized unity, recalling how Irgun commander Menachem Begin ordered his fighters to stand down even as they came under fire, refusing to let the Altalena affair spiral into civil war. Netanyahu held up “civil war – never” as the central lesson, stressing that unity is Israel’s strength.

Netanyahu viewing a museum display about the Altalena affair—the 1948 confrontation where the IDF shelled an Irgun arms ship. Photos: Ma’ayan Toaf, GPO

Ben-Gvir, appearing separately with Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, struck a sharper political edge. After Netanyahu avoided a joint appearance to skip being photographed with him, Ben-Gvir said Begin “knew well the taste of persecution – the taste of people not wanting to be photographed with you on the same stage,” subtly likening his own treatment to Begin’s.

June 1948: The Altalena burns off Tel Aviv after being shelled by Israeli forces during a dispute over weapons.

While Netanyahu has given no indication he intends to abandon his current right-wing coalition, his emphasis on unity has fueled speculation that he could eventually seek a broader, more centrist government that leaves Ben-Gvir and the harder right outside.

Turkey is currently viewed by Israel as a “rival and not an enemy,” Israeli security officials said Sunday, while cautioning that Ankara’s status could change as the strategic landscape across the Middle East continues to evolve.

Israeli security assessments indicate that Turkey is working to consolidate a Sunni regional axis that would, among other objectives, take an adversarial position toward Israel.

Israeli officials rejected denials from both Syria and Turkey concerning warnings issued ahead of a recent strike, saying the warnings were disregarded by the parties involved. After extensive evaluation and following recommendations from Israeli intelligence and the Israel Air Force, officials said the decision was ultimately made to conduct the strike as a message while taking measures to avoid casualties. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir was also involved in pushing for the course of action.

Security officials said Israel’s post-October 7 policy remains focused on detecting emerging threats and neutralizing them as early as possible. That approach is also being applied to developments involving Syria and Turkey, with Israeli security agencies closely tracking the evolving situation to ensure that potential threats do not take shape through alternative channels.

Israel closely watching Lebanon-Syria developments

Israeli security officials said Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is believed to harbor deep hostility toward Hezbollah and Iran. According to Israeli assessments, he may eventually seek retaliation against both groups for the deaths of Syrian forces during the civil war under former president Bashar Assad, despite publicly adopting a more moderate tone and expressing an interest in peaceful relations.

Officials said Israel is consequently paying close attention to the evolving relationship between Lebanon and Syria. The goal, they explained, is to prevent strategically important areas from deteriorating into lawless spaces that could eventually pose a security threat to Israel.

At the same time, Israeli security officials indicated that Turkey is seeking avenues to approach Israel’s borders not only through Syria but potentially through other routes, including the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s security establishment is monitoring those efforts and working to prevent them from advancing. Some of the activity is being addressed through diplomatic channels, including efforts involving the United States and other allied countries.

Israel-Syria negotiations suspended following military strike

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said Sunday that negotiations with Israel had been suspended following the Israeli strike in Syria, with no date currently established for their resumption. Speaking to Reuters, al-Shaibani said Damascus’ immediate objective is to halt Israeli military strikes and that confidence-building measures would be necessary to move toward that goal.

The Syrian foreign minister also argued that after Assad was ousted in 2024, “Israel tried to maintain its security through brute force and it did not succeed.” He said Washington is seeking to persuade Israel to return to negotiations, adding, “It is very difficult to bet on Israel, but Syria had very high hopes of building stable relations with its neighbors.”

Al-Shaibani further said the two sides had “agreed on paper on almost everything” earlier this year as part of discussions over a potential security arrangement. The proposed framework would establish several security zones inside Syrian territory near Israel, including a buffer area in which only UN personnel would be present, alongside other zones where Syrian forces could operate with different levels of deployment.

However, he maintained that “we have not seen that Israel has the genuine desire to reach an agreement.”

The competing positions underscore the increasingly complicated security environment surrounding Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. While Israel continues to describe Turkey as a rival rather than a direct enemy, Israeli officials are signaling that changing regional alliances and Ankara’s expanding influence could force a reassessment of that designation.

Lebanese security officials believe the recent wave of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon may represent more than a series of limited operations and could instead be intended to prepare the ground for a wider military campaign, according to a report by Asharq al-Awsat published Monday.

According to the report, the IDF has concentrated its attacks on strategic ridgelines overlooking nearby villages and towns, along with a key transportation route extending farther into Lebanese territory. The reported objective is to isolate strategically important areas and restrict the movement of personnel between them.

Lebanese sources in Beirut said strikes targeting residential buildings, infrastructure, and roads in the affected areas appear designed to establish a buffer zone and separate Hezbollah strongholds from surrounding areas. They said the activity could be part of preparations for a possible expansion of the fighting.

The reports come alongside accounts of increased Israeli ground activity. Lebanese news outlet Elnashra has also reported growing concern in Beirut that the situation could develop into a significant security escalation.

According to an analysis published by the outlet, Lebanese officials believe Israel’s upcoming election campaign may also be influencing recent military developments. Their assessment is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could take a more aggressive approach and intensify military operations in an effort to demonstrate security achievements to the Israeli public.

Israel’s political campaign increasingly highlights regional threats

Lebanese reports say Israel’s political discourse is placing substantial emphasis on threats from Iran, Hezbollah, and Turkey. Lebanese commentators argue that this focus could make Israel less inclined to pursue compromises.

Political and security officials in Beirut also believe the approach is reflected in Israel’s tougher position during diplomatic contacts, as well as in increased military pressure intended to strengthen Israel’s position at the negotiating table.

Meanwhile, Lebanese reports describe negotiations between Israel and Lebanon as remaining deadlocked. According to Lebanese sources, Israel is not under immediate pressure to secure a diplomatic breakthrough and instead appears to favor continuing military pressure.

The Lebanese reports also say US involvement in the negotiations is primarily aimed at keeping communication channels open and preventing the situation from deteriorating into a full-scale confrontation.

Taken together, the assessments from Beirut connect the military developments along the Israel-Lebanon border with the continuing diplomatic impasse. Lebanese officials and commentators cited in the reports warn that the combination of intensified military activity, tougher negotiating positions, and political considerations inside Israel could raise the possibility of further escalation.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore warned last year that everyone except the super-rich was “getting hosed” by President Donald Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill. Yet a year after the legislation became law, the Democratic governor is publicly promoting one of its major provisions.

This month, Moore announced a new Maryland initiative designed to expand health care access for people living in rural communities, saying “Marylanders’ ability to access affordable and quality health care should not depend on their zip code.” The effort is being supported by $168 million in federal funding Maryland received this year through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the same legislation Democrats fought to block and that represents Trump’s most significant legislative accomplishment of his second term.

The legislation passed Congress exclusively with Republican support. Among its provisions was the creation of the five-year, $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, which provides states with federal funding to strengthen rural health care. Maryland is initially putting $80 million of its allocation toward expanding primary care, mental health and dental services in rural communities.

“This $80 million allocation is another step in our administration’s commitment to investing and expanding innovative initiatives to drive health outcomes for Maryland’s rural communities, leaving no one behind,” Moore said in an Aug. 10 statement. His statement did not identify the One Big Beautiful Bill as the source of the funding.

Democratic governors, much like their counterparts in Congress, mounted strong opposition to Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. They criticized provisions extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, ending enhanced pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies and imposing new Medicaid work eligibility rules. The Congressional Budget Office estimates those Medicaid changes could result in 7.8 million people losing health coverage by 2034.

The $50 billion rural health program helped win support from some Republican lawmakers who were concerned about the legislation’s Medicaid reductions, which are projected to total $911 billion over a decade, as well as the potential consequences for rural hospitals.

Democratic governors continue to argue that the rural health funding will not make up for the broader effects of the Medicaid changes, especially with the new work requirements scheduled to begin in 2027. Nevertheless, they have eagerly publicized federal rural-health money arriving in their states while generally avoiding any praise for the Trump legislation that created the program.

“This investment allows Hawaii to finally close the distance between rural communities and the care they deserve,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat, said earlier this year. He was announcing $189 million in federal rural health funding for Hawaii, which will be used to expand access to quality primary care outside Honolulu.

Green had offered a much darker assessment when the legislation passed in July 2025. “These next few years won’t be easy, but we are mobilizing now to respond, protect our people and make sure Hawaii can weather what’s coming,” Green said in a joint statement with Hawaii’s Democratic congressional delegation.

Connecticut Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont similarly praised the $154 million his state is receiving in 2026 through the Rural Health Transformation Program, describing it in March as a “landmark federal grant.” That came after he warned the previous year that the Big Beautiful Bill Act would have “devastating impacts on millions of Americans for years to come.”

“Rural Connecticut has unique challenges, and its residents deserve the same access to high-quality care and support as anyone who lives anywhere else,” Lamont said in March. “This investment allows us to tackle those challenges head-on.”

White House Accuses Democratic Governors of Taking Credit for Trump Program

Every state in the country, regardless of whether it is led by a Democrat or Republican, applied for and received money through the Rural Health Transformation Program. First-year awards ranged from $147 million for New Jersey to $281 million for Texas, with the grants distributed in December 2025.

The White House has accused Democratic governors of attempting to claim credit for a program contained in legislation they repeatedly criticized and sought to defeat.

“Every single Democrat voted against the Rural Health Transformation Fund, and Democrat governors spent months blasting the bill that created it,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement to USA TODAY. “Democrat governors have no right to now try to take credit for ‘securing’ rural health dollars that they had nothing to do with, these investments are solely thanks to President Trump and Republicans.”

The Republican criticism echoes an argument previously made by President Joe Biden’s administration against GOP lawmakers who voted against Biden’s 2021 infrastructure law but later appeared at ribbon-cuttings for projects financed by the legislation.

To qualify for rural health funding during the program’s five-year lifespan, states were required to submit plans detailing how they would improve rural access to care, modernize hospitals and technology, and introduce new medical innovations in underserved areas.

“Rural Arizonans have waited too long for healthcare that meets them where they are, and we’re changing that,” Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said in March when she unveiled her state’s rural health program and website. Arizona received $167 million under the federal initiative. Hobbs described the effort as “a signal that help is on the way.”

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs greets supporters during the opening of Copper State Victory’s first coordinated Democratic campaign office in Tucson, Arizona, U.S., July 12, 2026.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, another Democrat, said the $193 million his state received in federal funding during 2026 is enabling Pennsylvania to move ahead with its “plan to improve rural health care, attract and retain a skilled workforce, promote long-term, sustainable access, support the growth of innovative care, and foster technological innovation.”

At the same time, Democratic governors maintain that the new rural-health funding will not compensate for expected Medicaid losses in the years ahead. They also point to reductions in food stamp funding and other changes to the social safety net contained in the Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“Governor Hobbs has been clear that the partisan Washington budget will have devastating impacts on the people of Arizona and that the RHTP is a bandaid on a gaping wound created by the federal government,” said Christian Slater, a spokesman for Hobbs. “But the governor will unapologetically fight for every dollar she can to protect Arizonans from the federal government’s attacks on affordable and accessible healthcare.”

Cathryn Vaulman, Lamont’s communications director, said the Rural Health Transformation Program “cannot come close to offsetting the harm caused by Congressional Republicans’ cuts to healthcare, food assistance, and other benefits in H.R. 1.” She added that the federal money “nevertheless provide important resources to strengthen rural health care in those communities.”

Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made a similar argument last December when she said her state’s $173 million 2026 allocation “will support access to health care for rural communities across Michigan as we deal with funding shortfalls caused by federal Medicaid cuts.”

Even as Maryland accepts the federal rural health money, Moore’s spokesman Ammar Moussa emphasized that the governor remains opposed to Trump’s broader legislation.

“Taking advantage of one worthwhile provision does not change the governor’s view of a law that makes deep cuts to Medicaid and will cause close to 200,000 Marylanders to lose health coverage,” Moussa said. “But once Congress passed the law, Governor Moore was never going to leave federal resources on the table that can help Marylanders.”

RN Michelle McVey demonstrates infant care in the emergency room at Coffey County Hospital in Burlington, Kansas, U.S., February 19, 2026.

Will Medicaid Cuts Outweigh the Rural Health Funding?

Medicaid provides coverage to 16.1 million people living in rural areas, representing roughly one in four rural adults, according to KFF, an independent health care research organization.

A KFF analysis estimates that Medicaid spending in rural communities will fall by approximately $137 billion as a result of Trump’s legislation. That means the $50 billion rural health program would cover only about one-third of the projected reduction. States with significant rural populations that expanded Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act are expected to experience some of the largest decreases in federal Medicaid spending.

The White House disputes those calculations, arguing that rural hospitals receive only about 7% of Medicaid funding. Administration officials say reductions tied to the legislation stem from work requirements that they argue are broadly popular and intended to ensure Medicaid primarily serves people who qualify for the program.

White House officials also argue that the $50 billion rural health initiative was created to address long-standing problems in rural health care caused by decades of population decline, rather than to replace Medicaid funding reduced by Trump’s legislation.

Colorado, under Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, is another example of a Democratic administration moving forward with money created by the law it opposed. In June, the state began accepting applications from organizations seeking to help implement its rural health strategy after Colorado received $200 million in first-year funding.

The state is focusing its efforts on 29 rural counties with high rates of chronic illness and 23 frontier counties where residents have limited access to specialized services, including behavioral health, obstetrics and gynecology.

“By taking advantage of every opportunity to reduce healthcare costs and support rural communities Colorado can increase access to the care we need to thrive, in urban and rural communities,” Polis said.

Eric Maruyama, a spokesman for Polis, nevertheless reaffirmed the governor’s opposition to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. He said the legislation “does significant harm” through reductions in food assistance and Medicaid and by allowing enhanced ACA subsidies to expire.

“It also ripped an immediate billion dollar hole in our state budget,” Maruyama said. “Congress nevertheless passed the law, and Colorado will not leave federal funding on the table, especially given the enormity of the cuts to services the law creates.

The Altalena, the Irgun ship at the center of one of the most painful episodes in Israel’s founding, has been located on the Mediterranean seabed 78 years after it sank. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu announced the discovery Monday.

The ship was found intact at 12:30 a.m. Monday, at a depth of 503 meters west of Israel’s coast, during a maritime search operation using specialized sensors and advanced survey systems. The expedition, launched at Eliyahu’s initiative and led by Roni Sadeh, director of the Marine Mapping Division at the Survey of Israel, followed months of planning.

The Altalena arrived off Israel’s coast in June 1948 carrying immigrants, Irgun fighters, and weapons, weeks after the state’s founding. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, seeking to consolidate a single national military under government control, ordered the weapons transferred to the newly formed IDF. When the Irgun refused, fighting broke out, and an IDF unit shelled the ship. Irgun commander Menachem Begin ordered his men not to fire back, a decision credited with preventing the confrontation from escalating into civil war. Sixteen Irgun members and three IDF soldiers were killed.

“Tonight we are closing a historical circle on one of the most painful and formative events in the history of Israeli society,” Ben-Gvir said. Eliyahu called the discovery “a defining moment for our national memory.”
Sadeh said the team reached the wreck at over 500 meters “thanks to advanced technologies and the intensive work of a professional and dedicated team at sea.” Officials said further findings and documentation from the site would be presented at a press conference.

NEW YORK CITY — Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, New York City officials continue their painstaking effort to identify nearly 3,000 people who died at the World Trade Center. Now, investigators have achieved a historic milestone.

For the first time, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the NYPD Detective Bureau have used forensic investigative genetic genealogy to formally identify a 9/11 victim. The approach combines DNA analysis with genealogical research to trace family connections.

The newly identified victim was an adult woman whose family has chosen not to disclose her identity publicly. She is the 1,651st person killed in the attacks to be formally identified.

“It’s a breakthrough,” Dr. Jason Graham, the city’s chief medical examiner, told ABC News. “I’m delighted to be able to say that we’ve now applied new methods to the World Trade Center identification efforts, and we have a new identification for the first time in 25 years using new methods, forensic investigative genetic genealogy.”

A quarter-century ago, such an achievement would have been difficult to imagine because the technology and methodology needed to conduct this type of investigation were not yet available.

“The technology really wasn’t there,” said NYPD Det. Gregory Paduoano. “There’s a lot of good future with genealogy.”

Forensic investigative genetic genealogy has previously helped law enforcement resolve decades-old unidentified-person cases and other long-standing cold cases. More recently, New York City’s medical examiner’s office and police department began applying the technique to the continuing effort to identify World Trade Center victims.

“We already can see that it’s promising,” said Dr. Jennifer Odien, a forensic anthropologist in the medical examiner’s office. “Not every case is going to be able to go through genetic genealogy, but we do have DNA profiles that are not matching to our reference samples, so that’s the group right now that we’re focusing on and that hopefully is going to yield more positive results.”

Odien said investigators have identified 47 DNA profiles that could potentially be suitable for identification through genetic genealogy.

Those cases account for only a small portion of the approximately 1,100 World Trade Center victims who remain unidentified 25 years after the attacks. Despite the passage of time, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has maintained its commitment to continuing the search for answers for the victims’ families.

“The World Trade Center was the largest mass murder in the history of the United States, and it represents also the most complex forensic identification effort in our history,” Graham said. “And being able to apply new innovations to that identification work is a remarkable way that we can keep our commitment to the families.”

WASHINGTON — As public anxiety over artificial intelligence grows, Democratic politicians who may seek the White House in 2028 are increasingly confronting a political problem: how to criticize the technology’s costs and risks without embracing the sweeping restrictions proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders.

Mr. Sanders, an independent from Vermont who has long challenged the influence of large corporations, has called for a halt to the development of artificial intelligence, urging the executives of leading technology companies to “stop building machines that humans cannot control.”

Axios asked nearly 20 Democrats considered potential presidential contenders whether they supported Mr. Sanders’s proposal. Only one directly answered the question.

The reluctance reflects a broader uncertainty within the Democratic Party about how aggressively to confront an industry that has become central to the American economy and to the competition with China, even as concerns about job losses, electricity prices, energy consumption and the risks posed by increasingly capable A.I. systems grow.

The political stakes are rising.

Democratic strategists worry that the party could be caught unprepared in 2028 if voters turn their frustration with artificial intelligence infrastructure into a broader political movement. At the same time, Republicans who once enthusiastically promoted A.I. companies and the construction of the data centers needed to power them have begun repositioning themselves as skeptics.

The issue is particularly acute around data centers, enormous facilities that consume vast quantities of electricity and water. Communities across the country have increasingly questioned whether the economic benefits justify the infrastructure demands and higher utility costs.

When asked whether they supported Mr. Sanders’s call to halt A.I. development, none of the potential Democratic candidates embraced the proposal. Yet almost none directly criticized his position, either.

The most pointed response came from Rahm Emanuel, the former mayor of Chicago, who is viewed as a possible 2028 contender.

“This is talking around a problem instead of trying to solve it. A pause is fine — but then what?”

Mr. Emanuel said the purpose of a pause should be to develop a broader strategy rather than simply delay construction.

“The real question,” Emanuel said, “is how the time it buys gets used to build a comprehensive plan that meets America’s energy needs instead of masking them.”

He has called for changes to the permitting process and for major technology companies, known as hyperscalers, to finance upgrades to the energy infrastructure required to support their facilities.

About half of the potential Democratic contenders contacted by Axios did not respond, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Only two potential Democratic presidential candidates, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Representative Ro Khanna of California, have expressed support for some form of a data-center pause.

A Democratic Opening

For Democratic strategists, the hesitation presents both a problem and an opportunity.

Adam Carlson, a progressive pollster, said Democrats had been too cautious about the issue.

“It’s a big strategic error for the Democratic Party writ large not to be the one that’s owning this,” he said.

He warned that Republicans could seize the issue before Democrats do.

“What if JD Vance comes out and is the first major presidential candidate to support a data center moratorium, other than AOC?” Carlson asked. “That’s a huge miss. And then everyone who comes out after is going to be seen as slow to the punch against JD Vance.”

The concern comes as candidates competing in this year’s midterm elections have moved faster than their potential presidential counterparts.

Republicans and Democrats running for office in states where data-center development has become controversial have increasingly endorsed temporary pauses or restrictions. A recent Fox News poll found that 70 percent of voters opposed construction of an A.I. data center in their community.

Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee for Senate in Michigan, has endorsed a one-year moratorium on new data centers. Amy Acton, the Democratic candidate for governor of Ohio, has called for a “conditional moratorium.” Stacy Garrity, the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, supports a “pause.”

The positions reflect a rapid change in the politics of an industry that only recently enjoyed broad bipartisan enthusiasm.

From Embrace to Skepticism

Several Democratic governors and senators who have been reluctant to endorse a full moratorium have nevertheless adopted tougher rhetoric toward data centers.

In Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration has criticized “irresponsible” data centers. In Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker has revoked tax incentives for the facilities, reversing earlier positions.

A spokesman for Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona said there should be “no data centers in communities that don’t want them.”

The offices of Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey pointed to legislation they support that would require data centers to cover the costs of the energy infrastructure they require.

“Americans should not have to pay higher electric bills and other costs to subsidize the data centers being built by the richest corporations on the planet,” Van Hollen said.

Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, has also expressed skepticism about the direction of the industry.

His office pointed to a Substack essay about a recent trip to Silicon Valley, where Mr. Murphy wrote that he “could divine very few ‘American values’ (juxtaposed against ‘Chinese values’)” guiding the development of A.I.

“Any talk about ethical or moral AI is just whitewash,” Murphy’s post said.

The Progressive Challenge

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and Mr. Khanna have gone further than most of their Democratic colleagues, making opposition to data-center expansion a central part of their positions on A.I.

Mike Casca, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, said that AOC is “leading the data center moratorium bill in the House.” He declined to comment on Mr. Sanders’s proposal to halt A.I. development itself.

Mr. Khanna said he supported a pause on data-center construction in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — “places where these centers have been shoved down the throats of communities.”

His position represents a shift from his earlier stance.

Mr. Khanna did not directly address Mr. Sanders’s proposal for a broader halt to A.I. development. He said he had recently discussed artificial intelligence with Pope Leo and believed the technology “must be developed in accordance with the principles” of the pope’s first encyclical on the subject.

Mr. Carlson suggested that some potential presidential candidates might simply be waiting.

The Nov. 3 midterm elections could provide a clearer indication of whether opposition to data centers has become a durable political force before candidates begin defining their positions for the 2028 presidential campaign.

Republicans Face Their Own Reversal

The political unease extends beyond Democrats.

Until recently, many Republicans and Democrats defended data-center construction as an economic opportunity. The facilities bring tax revenue to local governments, create construction jobs and provide work for organized labor.

The logic was straightforward: If the technology was going to be developed anyway, politicians reasoned, their communities should benefit from the investment.

But opposition has grown strong enough that some Republicans are reconsidering their earlier enthusiasm.

That creates an uncomfortable political dynamic for the party because President Trump and his administration have been among the most prominent advocates of artificial intelligence and the infrastructure required to expand it.

For Democrats, meanwhile, the challenge is to distinguish themselves without appearing hostile to technological innovation or American competitiveness.

Sanders Was Early

Mr. Sanders’s proposal may still sound unusually sweeping, but his record on A.I. suggests that some of his positions can move from the political margins toward the mainstream.

He was the first member of Congress to endorse a data-center moratorium late last year. At the time, most Democrats questioned about the proposal rejected it.

The political landscape has since changed.

Candidates from both parties running in the 2026 elections are now advocating state-level pauses on data-center construction. New York has enacted a one-year moratorium on hyperscaler data centers.

And even within the technology industry, there have been signs of caution. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman announced last week that the company had temporarily paused some technological training.

The question confronting Democrats now is not simply whether artificial intelligence should be embraced or resisted. It is whether the party can develop a political language for governing a technology that is rapidly changing the economy before voters, Republicans or events force the issue for them.

For Mr. Sanders, that debate has already begun. For many of the Democrats who may seek the presidency in 2028, the harder question is how long they can avoid taking a side.

Central Elections Committee chairman Noam Sohlberg says Shin Bet chief David Zini has told the panel that the agency has no intelligence indicating any attempt to harm Gadi Eisenkot, the former minister and IDF chief whose Yashar party is ahead in most opinion polls before the October 27 election.

Sohlberg’s remarks follow a Channel 12 report from yesterday stating that Zini had rejected a request to assign an armed security detail to Eisenkot.

“The Shin Bet director says there is no intelligence on harm to Eisenkot — and he is the professional authority on this issue,” Sohlberg says, emphasizing that the Central Elections Committee is “not authorized” to intervene in the matter.

“If there are alerts on any kind of intention to harm the head of the Yashar party, the Shin Bet head will inform me,” he adds.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly described his disagreements with former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, saying he believes some of Fedorov’s recent actions — including participation in large-scale demonstrations and appeals for elections — were misguided. The comments marked the first detailed public account from Zelenskyy about the dispute that led to Fedorov’s removal.

Zelenskyy also pointed to concerns surrounding defense expenditures and said inaccurate information from the Defense Ministry played a role in an uncomfortable exchange with U.S. President Donald Trump regarding the use of Starlink inside Russia.

The Ukrainian president disclosed figures indicating that Kyiv is facing an increasingly serious shortage of Patriot air-defense missiles, which are crucial for intercepting Russian ballistic missiles. Deliveries from Western partners have dropped over the last three years while Russia has stepped up its missile attacks.

Despite those difficulties, Zelenskyy pointed to Ukrainian advances on the battlefield. He said Ukrainian forces have nearly retaken the entire Dnipropetrovsk region, with Russian forces retaining control of only roughly 10 square kilometers.

Zelenskyy made the comments during a two-hour meeting with journalists on Saturday that was conducted off the record. A transcript of the discussion was released publicly Sunday.

Zelenskyy gives first detailed account of Fedorov’s dismissal

The wide-ranging discussion touched on Ukraine’s military situation, efforts to defend against Russian ballistic missiles, the status of peace talks, government budget pressures and the political controversy that followed Fedorov’s dismissal.

“I really had and still have a very positive attitude toward Mykhailo. We have been through a lot together. But I believe that he himself goes, or is pushed, into the wrong things,” he said.

Fedorov had become a prominent figure in Ukraine’s government and was widely associated with efforts to modernize the armed forces while expanding the military’s use of technology and drones. He was removed from his post last month after reportedly clashing with Ukraine’s senior military leadership.

His dismissal sparked demonstrations that continued for several weeks but ultimately did not persuade the government to reverse the decision. Fedorov subsequently released a video message in which he called for elections.

Zelenskyy said he attempted to find a way for Fedorov to remain involved in government, presenting him with four possible alternatives. According to Zelenskyy, Fedorov declined each of the proposals.

An explosive device detonated Saturday on a bus carrying members of Syria’s internal security forces north of Damascus, injuring several personnel in what authorities described as a terrorist attack.

The blast took place along the Maarounah-Al-Tal road in the Damascus countryside, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA. State-run Al-Ikhbariya TV also reported the incident, citing a security source.

Officials have not released the number of security personnel wounded in the explosion. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Images released by SANA showed significant damage to the bus following the blast. Several windows were shattered, one of the vehicle’s doors was blown open, and broken glass was visible across the front seating area.

“Authorities are investigating the attack and working to identify those responsible,” SANA reported.

The bombing comes amid a string of explosions around Damascus, underscoring the security challenges facing Syria’s new authorities as they attempt to maintain stability.

Earlier this month, an explosion on a bus in Jaramana left 14 people wounded. The Damascus-area town is home to Christian and Druze communities.

In July, two explosions were reported near a hotel where visiting French President Emmanuel Macron had been staying. Macron was not at the hotel when the blasts occurred.

One person was killed and 36 others were wounded in that attack.

A senior Israeli defense official says Jerusalem is working through discreet channels with Ankara to prevent further escalation, while making clear that Israel will act if Turkish military deployments in Syria begin to threaten its security or freedom of action.

Against the backdrop of recent Israeli Air Force strikes in Syria and growing friction between Israel and Turkey, the official outlined Jerusalem’s approach in an interview with Kan News. “Israel does not want to turn Turkey into an enemy, and there are covert channels between the countries to transfer messages and avoid friction.”

The official also emphasized that Israel has established clear limits on what it considers an unacceptable military threat. “when the messages don’t help, Israel has to act.”

At the center of Israel’s concerns is the expansion of Turkish military capabilities inside Syria. Jerusalem is particularly focused on preventing the deployment of anti-aircraft systems, advanced missile platforms and drones that could restrict Israel’s ability to conduct military operations in the region.

As part of that strategy, the IDF recently targeted infrastructure and runways at the Abu al-Duhur military airfield in northern Syria. The strike was carried out before Turkish equipment reportedly reached the site, in what Israeli officials described as a preemptive move.

According to the Israeli defense official, the operation was intended to deliver a message to Damascus: Israel does not necessarily oppose the strengthening of Syria’s military capabilities, but it will not accept the establishment of a new military threat along its borders.

Meanwhile, Turkish diplomatic and military officials have sought to lower tensions and have firmly rejected claims that Turkish forces were at the airbase when it was struck.

In an official statement, Ankara said that “no Turkish military delegation was present at the Syrian airbase before or during the Israeli strikes.”

A Palm Beach County employee allegedly driving a county building-services truck shouted “Heil Hitler” at a Jewish motorist and made a Nazi salute during an encounter, according to the antisemitism watchdog group StopAntisemitism.

The reported incident drew condemnation from Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), who called the alleged behavior “repulsive” and said it “isn’t welcome in Palm Beach County or anywhere.”

“I’m sure Palm Beach County gov. is looking into this and if confirmed he will no longer be working there,” Moskowitz wrote on X.

StopAntisemitism urged Palm Beach County officials to launch an immediate investigation into the allegation and hold anyone responsible accountable.

The claim has not been independently verified. Details about what allegedly occurred, including the identities of the county employee and the driver involved, were not immediately available.

The reported encounter comes as South Florida continues to face concerns surrounding antisemitic incidents and rhetoric directed at Jewish communities.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday morning denounced sweeping new U.S. tariffs on Canadian products as “a miscalculation,” after negotiations between Ottawa and Washington broke down late Friday. The new duties, which took effect at midnight, cover roughly $20 billion in Canadian goods, including hockey sticks, building supplies, liquor and some clothing.

The 50% tariffs followed what Carney described as the failure of the Trump administration to negotiate terms that Canada could accept. He characterized the U.S. demands as “uneconomic” and “unfair,” arguing that Washington had sought too much while offering too little in return.

“In recent days, the United States proposed new terms that were uneconomic, unfair, and undermined the net benefits for Canada, and called into question the reliability of any deal. In short, they asked too much, and they offered too little,” Carney told reporters at a press conference.

After weeks of negotiations, Carney said Friday that the two countries had made meaningful headway but still had not reached the objectives Canada had set for the talks.

“As a result, this evening, I have decided to suspend trade negotiations with the U.S. and have directed Canada’s negotiators to return to Ottawa,” Carney said in an emailed statement minutes before the deadline.

On Saturday, Carney praised Canada’s negotiating team for continuing discussions until the final hours, but said the government ultimately concluded that the proposed agreement was unacceptable.

“They’ve worked hard in good faith, right up to the last minute, to defend the interests of Canadians,” Carney said, adding that the negotiators ultimately had to reject “a bad deal.”

According to the U.S. trade representative’s office, the tariffs cover approximately $20 billion in Canadian imports. Products affected include hockey equipment, certain construction materials, alcoholic beverages and various types of clothing.

Carney said Canada would respond immediately with its own tariffs, promising to match the American duties on a dollar-for-dollar basis in an effort to shield Canadian companies and workers.

On Saturday, Carney described Canada’s planned response as “focused,” saying the country would target American products in industries including steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural machinery, pulp and paper, and electronics. He said those Canadian tariffs would begin Sept. 8.

When a reporter asked Carney why his approach appeared to be taking Canada “to war,” the prime minister gave a blunt response.

“Because we were attacked.”

The collapse of the negotiations followed almost two weeks of intense discussions between American and Canadian officials. The breakdown represented a sharp departure from the situation Tuesday, when President Donald Trump temporarily delayed the tariffs for three days and declared on social media that the countries “have a DEAL!”

Until the final hours, officials from both countries had indicated that an agreement appeared within reach. On Thursday, Canadian minister responsible for relations with the United States held several hours of talks with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

“We’re very close, we continue to make progress and we’re going to stay here and do the work that is necessary until we get to that point,” Dominic LeBlanc told reporters as he left Greer’s office late Thursday.

Negotiators from Canada and the United States returned to the table Friday, continuing discussions well into the evening. Officials remained inside the U.S. trade representative’s office after 10:30 p.m. ET, but the negotiations ultimately ended without an agreement.

Carney said Friday that changes introduced by Washington at the last moment made the proposed agreement unacceptable and raised concerns about whether any deal could be relied upon.

“last-minute changes in the U.S. proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.”

“We have recognized from the beginning that America has changed, and that we will not return to our old relationship,” Carney said. “Canada has what the world wants. And we will not allow any nation to determine our future.”

At a Saturday news conference, Carney provided more information about the changes he said Washington had sought just before the deadline. Among them, he said, was a proposal to restrict the automotive portion of the agreement to passenger vehicles while excluding medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

Carney also said U.S. negotiators had made late requests that would have constrained Canada’s ability to negotiate other international trade agreements. He said those proposals could have affected existing Canadian trade and security arrangements with other nations.

He further accused the United States of seeking “to restrict our protections of our language, our culture, and in effect, our sovereignty,” although he did not offer specific details about those requests.

Carney said the last-minute revisions were only one part of his decision to end the negotiations. He characterized the broader issue as a cumulative concern about whether Washington was genuinely prepared to establish a long-term economic partnership with Canada.

Greer, however, offered a different account of the collapse Saturday morning, saying Canada had rejected an agreement based on terms that had previously been accepted in principle.

“Despite the U.S. offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walk backs of other commitments by Canada have upended the careful balance reached in the past days,” he said.

“We don’t have new talks planned with the Canadians,” Greer added in a Saturday-morning interview on Fox News. “We’ve said enough, and so we’ve taken countermeasures.” He also said the U.S. would “respond to Canadian retaliation.”

Greer said another major disagreement involved Canada’s decision to maintain retaliatory measures against American products and services, including restrictions on certain U.S. goods. Those measures include provincial bans on American alcohol that Canada introduced in 2025 following earlier rounds of Trump administration tariffs.

As the negotiations continued, Carney’s government also encountered resistance from some provincial leaders in Canada.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said the federal government should “fight” Trump.

One particularly contentious issue involved Carney’s request that provincial governments remove their restrictions on sales of American alcohol.

Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette said Thursday that she was still “analyzing” the request, according to CBC. Other premiers, including Ontario Premier Doug Ford, did not issue public comments Thursday or early Friday.

Ford later expressed support for Carney’s response following the prime minister’s announcement.

“The prime minister has my full support for a strong response, tariff for tariff, dollar for dollar.” Ford said Canada “needs to stand together more united than ever before.”

British Columbia Premier David Eby also voiced support for the federal government’s position.

“We didn’t ask for this, but we’ll keep fighting for as long as it takes,” David Eby, the premier of British Columbia, said on X.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith urged Ottawa to avoid allowing the dispute to become a prolonged trade conflict.

“No one benefits from a trade war,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wrote on X. “Alberta will continue to advocate for a strong tariff free relationship between Canada and the U.S. and I will be urging the federal government to restart negotiations as soon as possible.”

Carney had previously argued that Trump’s proposed tariffs would violate the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the North American trade pact negotiated and signed by Trump during his first term.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned this week that escalating tariffs could hurt both countries by increasing consumer costs, disrupting supply chains and putting millions of American jobs connected to the North American trade agreement at risk.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce likewise criticized the collapse of the negotiations, describing it as a serious setback for the competitiveness of North America.

“Americans will see their costs go up, and Canadians will see customers, investment and small businesses disappear,” said Candace Laing, the president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

The administration imposed the latest tariffs under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, a provision that has never previously been used.

That law gives the White House authority to impose duties of as much as 50% on a foreign trading partner that “discriminates” against American commerce.

The new Canadian tariffs are expected to face legal challenges in U.S. courts.

Canadian officials had sought to persuade the Trump administration to abandon the Section 338 tariffs altogether. They were also negotiating over lower duties on industrial goods, including steel and aluminum, which had been imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Act, according to CBC News and Bloomberg.

Bloomberg reported Wednesday that U.S. negotiators had agreed to reduce tariffs on automobiles and metals from 25% to 15%.

Greer said Saturday that Washington had also offered substantial reductions involving several Canadian industries, although he did not specify the precise terms.

“This is a missed opportunity for Canada to partner with the United States,” he said.

Representatives for Canadian officials involved in the negotiations have repeatedly declined to provide NBC News with further details about the discussions.

Greer had previously argued that the new 50% duties were a direct response to Canada’s retaliatory trade measures against the United States.

“The policy basis for those duties are related to measures that Canada took against the United States,” Greer said last week. “So I’ve got two countries in the world that have retaliated against the United States for trade measures: the People’s Republic of China and Canada. That’s not the kind of company you really want to be running in.”

Trump previously escalated his tariff confrontation with China by briefly raising duties into the triple digits after Beijing retaliated against U.S. trade measures. Months of negotiations between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China’s vice premier eventually helped ease tensions, leading both countries to reduce their tariffs.

The Trump administration has begun the process of transferring $725 million to the United Nations, according to a congressional notification reviewed by Reuters. Aid experts described the move as a positive step toward addressing billions of dollars in unpaid US contributions to the international organization.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the payment. The transfer comes from an administration that has significantly reduced funding for numerous UN agencies and repeatedly criticized the organization for failing to fulfill its potential.

The payment was disclosed in a State Department notification sent to Congress on 4 August, a document that had not previously been reported. The funds are expected to be transferred ahead of Donald Trump’s planned address to the annual UN General Assembly in New York next month.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned earlier this year that the organization faced “imminent financial collapse” because member states have failed to pay their contributions. In response to the financial strain, the UN has implemented substantial reductions to its budgets.

The $725 million transfer represents less than one-fifth of the more than $4 billion the UN said the United States owed as of May. Washington, however, disputes that figure, maintaining that its outstanding balance is considerably smaller and pointing to payments it has already made.

Eugene Chen, a former UN official, said the proposed payment could provide temporary relief by helping cover staff salaries, although it may not be enough to meet all of the organization’s needs. “It keeps the ship afloat a little longer,” he said.

Chen also warned that the United States could face the loss of its voting rights if additional payments are not made. “If the US does not make further payments, it will likely lose its voting rights in January,” he added.

Article 19 of the UN Charter provides that a member state can lose its voting rights in the General Assembly when its unpaid assessments reach an amount equivalent to two years of contributions. The rules allow for possible exceptions or grace periods under certain circumstances.

Ronny Patz, a UN finance specialist at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability, said a substantial payment at this point could prevent the organization from having to impose additional immediate spending reductions.

“If they pay a big chunk, the UN ‌still runs on zero reserves but it gets through the year,” Patz added. “If they don’t pay, the UN might really be in trouble for the last two or three months of the year in terms of paying salaries and keeping the doors open.”

The United States remains the largest contributor to the UN’s overall budget. Under the Trump administration, however, Washington has declined to make required payments toward the organization’s regular and peacekeeping budgets while also cutting voluntary contributions supporting other UN programs.

The administration has also pulled the United States out of dozens of United Nations bodies and other international organizations, further reshaping Washington’s relationship with the multilateral system.

Commuters faced major disruptions in Queens and Brooklyn, while parts of Long Island recorded as much as 2.87 inches of rain, according to Pix11.

Traffic backed up for miles along the Long Island Expressway, while FDNY personnel were seen wading through water that reached their ankles.

Flash flooding struck parts of Brooklyn, creating major problems for evening commuters. The Long Island Expressway was shut down in both directions near Francis Lewis Boulevard, NYCEM reported shortly before 7:30 p.m. Drivers were advised to seek alternate routes.

Videos from the area showed one driver struggling to push a stalled gray Mercedes along 188th Street as powerful floodwaters swept through Brooklyn.

Some motorists resorted to climbing onto the roofs of their vehicles to keep themselves out of the rising water.

In Bushwick, Brooklyn, drainage systems were overwhelmed as intense rainfall poured down within minutes.

Another Brooklyn resident climbed onto the roof of his vehicle as floodwaters continued to rise.

Other people found themselves wading through knee-deep water as they cautiously made their way toward nearby trees and other places where they could hold on.

Officials had warned drivers to prepare for the severe weather. A level 3 out of 4 flash-flood risk was issued Thursday afternoon for central and northern New Jersey as well as New York City.

A tornado watch was also issued for more than 15 million people across Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Virginia.

The storm also disrupted public transportation. Service on the A, C and E subway lines experienced delays early Friday, although those problems have since been resolved.

Rabbi Tzuriel Krispel, 66, helped found Shas and spent decades working within its political and educational institutions. He served as deputy mayor of Elad, ran the Otzar Haim educational network in Beersheba and was once personal secretary to the party’s late spiritual founder, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.

Krispel represents an older, more moderate strain of Shas politics: Sephardi, Zionist and supportive of military service for men who are not studying full-time in yeshiva. He served in the IDF’s Golani Brigade alongside Gadi Eisenkot, who later became IDF chief of staff.

Eisenkot subsequently offered Krispel a place on the Knesset slate of his centrist Yashar! party.

“They offered me a place on the slate as an ultra-Orthodox, a former Golani soldier, a Shas man, and a rabbi in Israel,” Krispel told The Times of Israel on Tuesday. “Eisenkot is fine, but the guys around him are a little anti-Haredi. I sat down with a woman at headquarters who manages ties with the ultra-Orthodox frameworks in the army. It was a good meeting, but it doesn’t sit well with the atmosphere there. That’s not my natural environment.”

Asked whether actual Shas voters might move to Eisenkot, Krispel dismissed the idea.

“That’s not happening,” he said. “Someone who cares about the Torah world isn’t going to leave Shas that quickly.”

Krispel remains loyal to Shas, but the party is nevertheless losing support. Tens of thousands of voters are potentially moving toward National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit, Likud and Eisenkot’s Yashar!

Shas won 11 seats in the previous election but has recently been polling at just seven.

The central issue is the continuing crisis over military service for ultra-Orthodox men. Shas’s uncompromising position on the draft appears to be creating problems among some of its traditional supporters, particularly those whose families serve in the military.

On Thursday, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri sought to repair his long-running relationship with Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the former Sephardi chief rabbi. Deri went to Yosef’s home after party officials concluded that continuing the dispute could cost Shas additional seats.

Under the resulting compromise, Deri formally backed down, while Yosef was recognized as his father’s successor and “the guide and leader of Maran’s legacy in the Shas movement and its institutions.” “Maran” is the honorific used for the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.

Yosef will not receive the formal title of president of the Council of Torah Sages, however. Shas will instead aggressively pursue legislation exempting Haredim from military service before the next election.

Yosef has also spoken positively about Eisenkot. According to Army Radio, he said, “Eisenkot is a warm Jew. His grandmother voted Shas and wanted him to become a rabbi. He can be trusted.” At a public appearance, Yosef added, “Maybe Eisenkot will become religious. Netanyahu? There’s no chance he’ll become religious.”

Eisenkot has frequently noted that his mother, Esther, has voted for Shas for 30 years and that he has had to persuade her to vote for him this time.

He told The Times of Israel that Shas supporters approach him daily saying they intend to vote for him, including voters in Kiryat Shmona, Shlomi and Or Yehuda. Many are part of Shas’s traditional, working-class periphery.

These voters have family members serving in the military and are increasingly uncomfortable with Shas’s anti-draft rhetoric. They want an equal sharing of the national burden and are unwilling to embrace slogans such as “We will die rather than enlist.”

A veteran Shas activist described the trend this way: “Drive out to the moshavim in the south. You’ll see Sephardim wearing black kippahs or large knitted kippahs. They all serve in the IDF. They can’t stand seeing Shas turn into the anti-draft Jerusalem Faction,” he said, referring to the radical ultra-Orthodox group known for its fierce opposition to military service.

“I’ve been on the ground for years. You can’t turn a Sephardi into an anti-Zionist. They aren’t willing to go along with it,” the activist added. Shas has a base of four seats. It will hold on to that no matter what. But everything beyond that is up for grabs.”

He continued: “I hear people saying that if there’s already a Moroccan candidate for prime minister, we should support him without hesitation. After all, that is the essence of Shas, to lift up disadvantaged Mizrahi Jews.”

Eisenkot is of Moroccan Jewish descent.

On Thursday, Yosef released a video blessing IDF soldiers, echoing his late father. While he has previously opposed enlistment even for men not studying in yeshiva, he again stopped short of calling on Haredim to join the army.

At a Shas conference in Holon, Yosef said: “We love the soldiers,” he said. “During the Swords of Iron war [the IDF’s name for the ongoing conflict sparked by the October 7 Hamas massacre], I visited all the bases and blessed the soldiers, completely secular soldiers.”

Against this backdrop, Shas launched its election campaign in Holon Thursday night. Deri could not afford to publicly display the party’s internal divisions so close to the election and instead sought to project unity.

He also wanted to avoid disruptions by supporters of Yosef and the Jerusalem Faction, who have recently confronted him at public events. Yosef attended the launch, received a warm welcome and sat beside Deri at the head table.

The event was closed to the press as an “internal gathering,” an unusual decision for the publicity-conscious party during an election campaign.

Upcoming polls will show whether Deri’s reconciliation effort can slow the loss of Shas voters. Party officials say the agreement with Yosef may only be a temporary truce, with the dispute potentially resurfacing after the election.

Deri has survived difficult campaigns before. With the Selichot season approaching, Shas is expected to emphasize its religious identity, feature the late Rabbi Ovadia in campaign posters and revive its familiar spiritual imagery.

But Shas’s traditional voters will also hear competing appeals from Netanyahu, Ben Gvir and, increasingly, Eisenkot.

The failures of October 7, 2023, and the prolonged war that followed have deeply affected Shas supporters serving in the regular army and reserves. For these voters, the next election could be an unusually difficult choice.

CNN reported Friday, citing U.S. officials, that USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its crew of about 5,000 started heading home to San Diego on Thursday after a nine-month Middle East deployment.

This is the same carrier that recently faced reports of crew mental-health struggles, including sailors attempting to jump overboard amid the extended deployment.

The carrier is expected to arrive back in San Diego in a few weeks

Randy Fine, widely known as the “Hebrew Hammer,” has decisively defeated social media personality Dan Bilzerian in the Republican primary for Florida’s 6th Congressional District, winning 57.6% of the vote, or 51,066 votes.

Fine defeated Bilzerian by roughly 15 percentage points, overcoming a highly controversial campaign that attracted national attention because of Bilzerian’s repeated antisemitic rhetoric, attacks against Jews and Fine personally, and references to Adolf Hitler.

The race became particularly contentious as Bilzerian used his large social media following to promote inflammatory messages targeting Jews and Israel. His campaign also released an AI-generated promotional video containing lyrics referencing Hitler. Bilzerian subsequently made additional statements about Jews that drew widespread condemnation.

In a statement to Belaaz following his victory, Fine said: “You don’t often get to run against evil. I did, and we crushed it.”

The result is significant because it shows that even in one of the most Republican states in the country, Republican voters are still rejecting candidates who embrace Nazi imagery, antisemitic rhetoric and political extremism. Fine’s decisive victory sends a clear message about where Republican voters drew the line in one of the most closely watched primaries of the 2026 election cycle.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that employees who disrupt operations at Ben-Gurion Airport should face dismissal, following a surprise strike that temporarily disrupted air travel and affected tens of thousands of passengers.

“Ben-Gurion Airport will continue to remain open and operate as usual,” said Netanyahu. “Whoever stands in the way should be fired.”

The prime minister’s remarks came after workers at Ben-Gurion Airport ended their unexpected strike at 3:00 p.m. The walkout grounded flights for roughly an hour and disrupted the travel plans of approximately 100,000 passengers.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev said earlier Thursday that she had directed Israel Airports Authority management to immediately seek intervention from the Labor Court against the workers’ union.

Regev argued that steps were necessary to stop what she described as a “thug-like, illegal strike,” adding, “Whoever made the decision to make tens of thousands of Israeli citizens hostage will pay a heavy price.”

Former Transportation Ministry Director-General Criticizes Government Management

Former Transportation Ministry director-general Keren Terner blamed what she characterized as “excessive political appointments and failed management” within the government for the disruption.

“Anyone who’s stuck right now at Ben Gurion Airport, or in traffic jams, or waiting hours for a bus that never shows up – I want you to know that things don’t have to be this way,” she said in a post on X. “They’ve conditioned us to a government that normalizes the idea that nothing can be fixed, but soon it will be different.”

Opposition figure Gadi Eisenkot also connected the airport disruption to the Netanyahu government, arguing that the incident reflected broader problems in how the government operates.

“The chaos at Ben-Gurion Airport on one of the busiest days of the year is not an isolated incident; it is a reflection of the failed management culture of the Netanyahu government – chaos and disorder, lack of management and lack of accountability.”

“The Israeli government’s lack of interest in the lives of its citizens and, above all, lack of leadership,” he continued. “Israeli citizens deserve leadership that takes responsibility, stands up to the challenges, and knows how to address systems from the ground up.”

Bennett Blames ‘Government of Chaos’ for Airport Disruption

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett also weighed in on the strike, blaming the disruption on what he called a broader failure of government management.

“Ben-Gurion Airport is in chaos because of a government of chaos.”

“Tens of thousands of Israelis were blackmailed by the government on one of the busiest days at Ben-Gurion Airport, because of political interests,” Bennett said in comments made at the airport. “They only care about their personal interests, and the people of Israel are paying the price.”

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has issued a pointed warning to extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank, saying that taking property belonging to Palestinian Americans amounts to “a violation of God’s law.”

Huckabee, a Baptist minister and prominent supporter of Israeli settlements, told Reuters that settlers accused of participating in the siege of Palestinian homes in the West Bank village of Kusra, including the residence of Palestinian American Loui Ridi, could potentially face US sanctions.

Israeli settlers began surrounding homes in Kusra on August 9, according to rights organizations that described the action as an effort to take control of privately owned Palestinian land. The incident has prompted condemnation internationally.

The Israeli military subsequently sent dozens of troops into the area and pushed the settlers away from the targeted homes. However, the settlers have remained in the vicinity, while residents such as Ridi say they are concerned the groups could return and attempt to enter their properties after the military presence is reduced.

Asked what message President Donald Trump’s administration had for settlers contemplating the seizure of homes or land in the West Bank belonging to Palestinian Americans, Huckabee, who last week described those responsible as “Israeli terrorists” invoked principles from Jewish and Christian scripture.

“I think the message is bigger than just even the Trump administration. It’s a message of basic civility and civilized behavior,” Huckabee told Reuters in Jerusalem.

“You don’t take something that doesn’t belong to you.”

‘Though shalt not steal,’ Huckabee tells settlers

US officials estimate that tens of thousands of Palestinian Americans reside in the West Bank. Many live in a group of communities situated between Ramallah and Nablus, including the village of Kusra.

Ridi told Reuters from his Kusra home on Thursday that he has been communicating with Huckabee’s staff at the US embassy in Jerusalem. He said, however, that Israeli settlers continued to harass him in the vicinity of his property.

Referring to the Ten Commandments, Huckabee said: “Thou shalt not steal” and emphasized that people should not take or “covet” or “desire” property belonging to someone else.

“If someone owns the land and they own their house, then having someone come and take it over and scare the family away from it, that’s a violation, not just of man’s law. That’s a violation of God’s law,” said Huckabee, a Republican former governor of the US state of Arkansas.

Huckabee is the first evangelical Christian to hold the position of US ambassador to Israel. He has consistently backed Israeli settlements in the West Bank and commonly uses the biblical terms Judea and Samaria to describe the territory. While those terms are used by the Israeli government, the US government does not officially adopt them.

At the same time, Huckabee defended Israeli settlements more broadly, arguing that violent extremists constitute only a small portion of the settler population. He said most settlers “just want to raise their families in Judea and Samaria peacefully and with a level of security.”

Palestinians and organizations supporting them reject that characterization, arguing that Israeli settlements take up land intended for a future independent Palestinian state. The United Nations and most governments regard the settlements as contrary to international law, while Israel rejects that position.

US ‘appalled’ by what happened in Kusra

Huckabee said the United States was “appalled” by the events in Kusra. He characterized the Palestinian families targeted by the settlers as victims of “inexcusable and repugnant” criminal conduct and said Israelis found responsible should face serious consequences under Israeli law.

The ambassador also warned that individuals determined to have participated could potentially face American sanctions, including restrictions on entering the United States. He added, however, that he was not aware of any such measures currently being considered.

Israeli police have not publicly announced arrests or charges against settlers allegedly involved in the siege of the Palestinian homes. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also not issued a public statement about the incident. A senior settler leader, however, has condemned the actions attributed to the settlers.

Employees at Ben-Gurion Airport on Thursday halted activity at check-in counters, citing what they described as a “crisis” involving operational problems, difficulties with aircraft loading and unloading, and a lack of available parking stands. Flight operations were subsequently suspended entirely at 2:00 p.m.

The labor action began at approximately noon and was initially expected to conclude at 3:00 p.m., after which flights were scheduled to resume. The Israel Airports Authority said the disruption stemmed from union-directed work actions that were affecting airport operations and services for passengers.

Around 100,000 travelers are expected to pass through Ben-Gurion Airport on Thursday, making the disruption particularly significant. More than 20 American refueling aircraft are occupying parking stands near Terminals 3 and 1, adding to congestion at the airport.

The shortage of available aircraft stands has increased the time required to transport baggage between terminals and aircraft. It has also slowed the movement of passengers traveling to and from planes that are parked away from jet bridges.

The Public Transport Authority said its management had instructed employees to “immediately cease any action that harms regular work and to restore operations to full routine. The Authority views with utmost severity any deliberate action liable to harm the traveling public and the proper functioning of Ben-Gurion Airport, especially during summer peak loads and high operational volumes.”

Labor leader calls conditions ‘torture’ as Regev threatens legal action

Pinchas Idan, who is leading the labor action, described the conditions faced by airport employees in stark terms, saying, “They give us such hard labor; management has no shame, they are torturing the employees of Ben-Gurion.”

Transportation Minister Miri Regev said she had directed Israel Airports Authority management to immediately approach the Labor Court and seek action against the workers’ union.

Regev characterized the labor action as a “thug-like, illegal strike” and argued that authorities must intervene to bring it to an end. She added, “Whoever made the decision to make tens of thousands of Israeli citizens hostage will pay a heavy price.”

Former Transportation Ministry director-general Keren Terner also criticized the government’s handling of the situation. In a post on X/Twitter, she wrote, “Today [the Israeli public is] getting an example of that and paying the price for a ministry in the throes of collapse due to excessive political appointments and failed management…

Anyone who’s stuck right now at Ben Gurion Airport, or in traffic jams, or waiting hours for a bus that never shows up – I want you to know that things don’t have to be this way. They’ve conditioned us to a government that normalizes the idea that nothing can be fixed, but soon it will be different.”

Gadi Eisenkot similarly linked the airport disruption to broader criticism of the Netanyahu government. In his own X post, he wrote, “The chaos at Ben Gurion Airport on one of the busiest days of the year is not an isolated incident; it is a reflection of the failed management culture of the Netanyahu government – chaos and disorder, lack of management and lack of accountability. The Israeli government’s lack of interest in the lives of its citizens and, above all, lack of leadership…

“Israeli citizens deserve leadership that takes responsibility, stands up to the challenges, and knows how to address systems from the ground up.”

Workers accused of using ‘Italian’ slowdown tactic

Airport employees have reportedly adopted what is known as an “Italian” strike, or “work-to-rule” action. Under this approach, workers formally continue performing their assigned duties and adhere to workplace regulations, but the strict application of those rules can significantly slow or effectively disrupt normal operations.

Work-to-rule tactics are sometimes used in industries where employees face legal restrictions on conventional strikes, including areas such as customs, air traffic control and baggage handling.

Senior Transportation Ministry officials warned that if the disruption is determined to be an Italian strike during the height of the travel season, there could be serious consequences. They said, “heads will roll and workers will go home.”

The Transportation Ministry’s director-general said authorities were examining what happened, adding, “We are investigating the incident; we are in a peak period with refuelers present, but if the investigation reveals an Italian strike, we will act with a very heavy hand against whoever is behind this.”

Former prime ministerial spokesman Nir Hefetz has predicted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could use one of his reserved positions on the Likud candidate list to place his son, Yair Netanyahu, in a favorable position ahead of the 2026 election.

Hefetz made the comments Wednesday during an interview with 103FM, as Netanyahu weighs how to allocate the reserved positions available to him following the Likud primaries.

Could Yair Netanyahu Receive a Reserved Likud Slot?

Asked about Netanyahu’s likely choices for the remaining reserved positions, Hefetz suggested that the prime minister could make an unexpected decision.

“In my opinion, Benjamin Netanyahu, as is his habit, will throw the baby out with the bathwater,” Hefetz said when discussing the future composition of the Likud slate.

“This is a guess. Somewhere around the 15th spot, you will see a very, very ‘attractive’ figure whose name also happens to be Netanyahu. Let’s see if I’m right. Incidentally, I hope I’m not.”

Hefetz was then asked directly whether he thought Netanyahu might reserve a position for his son. The possibility of Yair Netanyahu receiving a place on the Likud list has previously faced opposition within the party.

Hefetz said the decision could ultimately depend on whether Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, wants their son included on the slate.

“I haven’t been in contact with [Sara] for many years, but I believe so. I could also be wrong; you know who prophecy was given to.”

Hefetz: Likud Slate Unlikely to Win Over Undecided Voters

Hefetz also criticized the outcome of the Likud primaries, describing the available candidates as “the lesser of the evils” when viewed as a complete slate.

He questioned whether the resulting list would help Netanyahu broaden his support before Election Day.

“The bigger question is whether the list is actually feasible, and whether it’ll get him the results he needs on Election Day,” Netanyahu’s former spokesman said. “I am certain the answer is no.”

He argued that the new slate does little to strengthen Netanyahu politically and could potentially become a liability.

“This list certainly doesn’t help him. You can debate whether it hurts him or not.”

According to Hefetz, however, the central issue in the upcoming election is likely to be Netanyahu himself rather than the individual candidates competing for positions on the Likud list.

“If there were democratic elections in Russia now, what would be the main question being discussed? Continuing the war with Ukraine and Putin, yes or no. In the State of Israel, which has also had a very strong leader for 17 years, the issue we are going into the election over is Benjamin Netanyahu, yes or no.”

From that perspective, Hefetz said, the precise positioning of Likud candidates is unlikely to be a decisive factor for many voters.

“It isn’t whether Amir Ohana is in second place or whether Nir Barkat has been pushed to the back of the list. This list certainly doesn’t help him. You can debate whether it hurts him or not.”

Hefetz also expressed doubts that the new Likud slate would succeed in reaching voters in the political center, including those who are considering alternatives such as Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel.

“I believe there are no people on this list who appeal to or attract undecided voters. Those who moved toward Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel, or those sitting in the middle on the fence, are not people considering voting for Gilad Erdan. Almost everyone on this list speaks to those who are going to vote for Netanyahu anyway, no matter what.”

LONDON — Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government has indicated that Britain is prepared to engage with the Trump administration over Washington’s objections to the U.K.’s digital services tax, as pressure from the White House intensifies.

President Donald Trump warned in June that European countries imposing digital services taxes on U.S. technology companies could face tariffs of up to 100 percent. In an interview with The Times published Monday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer reinforced the warning, saying Trump’s threat was “not a bluff” and that the president was “quite serious” about pushing foreign governments to eliminate such taxes.

A U.K. government spokesperson said Britain remains willing to address Washington’s concerns, stating: “We remain open to discussing U.S. concerns and working with partners internationally,”

The government defended the tax as a way to ensure large companies contribute appropriately to the U.K. Treasury. “This tax is about making sure that businesses pay their fair share of U.K. tax based on the value they derive from U.K. activities,” the spokesperson said, while stressing that Britain intends to eliminate the measure “once a global solution is in place.”

The digital services tax generated more than £1 billion in revenue last year, with American technology companies accounting for most of the payments. The measure has become a recurring target of criticism from Trump.

Despite mounting pressure from Washington, Britain has previously rejected demands to scrap the tax, including during trade talks last year. The U.K.-U.S. Economic Prosperity Deal signed by Trump and former Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not specifically address the DST. It did, however, commit both governments to further cooperation on expanding digital trade and tackling non-tariff barriers.

Greer also told The Times that Washington does not intend to impose “artificial timelines” for resolving the dispute. He described relations with British officials, including Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and the prime minister’s business adviser Varun Chandra, as positive.

The comments suggest that, while the digital services tax remains a significant point of tension between London and Washington, both sides may still have room to negotiate before the tariff threat escalates.

Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL), a Trump-endorsed Jewish congressman and one of Congress’s most outspoken defenders of Israel, won his Republican primary Tuesday in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, defeating social media personality Dan Bilzerian and two other challengers. The Associated Press called the race with Fine taking 56.8% of the vote to Bilzerian’s 17.9%.

The primary drew national attention after Bilzerian, who describes himself as “anti-Zionist,” ran a campaign that included an AI-generated video attacking Fine’s Jewish identity with antisemitic language, along with public statements about “Jewish supremacy.” The rhetoric prompted condemnation from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and other leaders on both sides of the aisle ahead of the vote. A swastika was also spray-painted on one of Fine’s campaign signs at an early polling location during the race.

Antisemite Bilzerian, who has more than 25 million social media followers, self-funded much of his campaign and significantly outspent Fine, though it was not enough to overcome the incumbent’s lead. Also competing in the primary were Sorrento activist Aaron Baker and Palm Coast City Council Member Charles Gambaro.

Fine said after his win: “We won! And it won’t be close,” thanking President Trump, Sens. Rick Scott and Ted Cruz, and Speaker Johnson, and added: “To those who wasted $3 million funneled through a fake political committee, you’re going to prison.”

Fine, who won the seat in an April 2025 special election to fill the vacancy left by then-Rep. Mike Waltz, now heads into the general election as the heavy favorite in a district where more than 64% of voters supported President Trump in 2024. A Democratic primary will determine his November opponent.

A potential agreement aimed at preventing new U.S. tariffs on Canadian products is now before President Donald Trump, according to three people familiar with the negotiations. The sources were granted anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.

Trump must now decide whether to allow the 50 percent tariff to take effect as planned at midnight.

U.S. and Canadian officials have spent several days in intensive negotiations. The Trump administration is urging Canada to withdraw retaliatory measures imposed in response to last year’s U.S. tariffs, including provincial restrictions on American liquor and tariffs targeting U.S. automobiles. Ottawa, meanwhile, is seeking reductions in U.S. duties on automobiles and other products. The emerging agreement would also reportedly include Canadian concessions involving its dairy tariff-rate quota, a longstanding point of contention for Trump, according to two of the three people familiar with the talks.

Negotiators hope an agreement covering those issues could pave the way for broader discussions over the North American trade agreement scheduled for review this year. Automobiles, however, continued to present a major obstacle Monday as American and Canadian officials met throughout the afternoon, according to three additional people familiar with the negotiations. Although the tariffs scheduled for Wednesday would affect only a limited portion of bilateral trade, they could complicate broader negotiations covering nearly $1 trillion in goods and services exchanged between the two countries.

“You can think of it as effectively trying to come up with an early harvest, an interim deal, a smaller package of what ultimately will land as part of the USMCA talks,” said Kelly Ann Shaw, who served as deputy assistant for international economic affairs during Trump’s first term.

The negotiations carry significant political consequences for both governments. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who previously invoked a hockey-fighting slogan to characterize his approach toward the United States during last year’s campaign, is now facing demands from U.S. officials for Canada to scale back longstanding trade protections, including reforms to the supply management system covering industries such as dairy and lumber.

There’s going to be a political cost for Carney on any type of concession with some portion of the public,” said an industry figure, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the trade discussions. “I cannot understate how upset the average Canadian is with the United States, and really specifically with Trump.”

Allowing the tariffs to take effect could also increase economic pressure on the Trump administration ahead of the midterm elections, particularly in Maine and Michigan, two states that could play an important role in determining control of the Senate.

At the end of the day, [U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson] Greer cannot bring something to the president that doesn’t address some of the president’s personal core concerns,” Shaw said. “And I think Carney recognizes he’s got to bring something back where he can say, ‘Look, not only are we just at the table, but we actually got something for it.’”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Gabriel Brunet, spokesman for Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, said the Canadian side was “in a holding pattern at this time.”

Trump set off the latest round of negotiations last month when he invoked a tariff law dating to the Great Depression to impose duties on a broad range of Canadian products, including hockey equipment and Canadian bacon. The measures were conditioned on Canada removing tariffs on U.S. automobiles, ending provincial restrictions on American alcohol and changing its dairy supply management policies. Trump’s proclamation provided a one-month delay before the tariffs would take effect, giving negotiators additional time to reach an agreement. The tariffs are scheduled to begin at midnight Aug. 19.

When Trump announced the measures, trade specialists viewed them as an effort to push Canada back to the negotiating table after months of stalled progress and mounting frustration among U.S. officials.

“I think these three issues must be resolved before Canada can get into the room on USMCA with the United States,” said a former USTR official, shortly after Trump unveiled the new tariffs on Canada last month. “And the U.S. side is wanting a situation where Canada is in the room and so they’re trying to help prompt fixes to these three.”

Automotive tariffs have since become one of the most difficult issues in the negotiations. Canada wants the 25 percent automobile tariffs Trump imposed last year on countries worldwide to be reduced. Ottawa also wants the tariff to apply only to vehicle content manufactured outside North America, according to one person familiar with the discussions.

The auto issue could also help determine whether the two countries make progress on other U.S. demands. Washington has insisted that American wine and spirits return to Canadian store shelves as a key condition of the talks. Responsibility for those restrictions, however, rests with individual provinces, meaning any resolution would require support from premiers such as Doug Ford of Ontario, a major center of automobile manufacturing.

Whether Ford ultimately backs down will “come down to where we land on autos,” one person familiar with the negotiations said, describing the automobile issue as a “domino” within the broader talks.

Ford used his authority over Ontario’s liquor stores in March 2025 to remove American alcohol from shelves across Canada’s most populous province. Other provinces followed with similar measures, causing an estimated loss of nearly $150 million for the U.S. distilled spirits industry alone. Alberta and Saskatchewan later ended their restrictions after only a few months, but together they represent less than 20 percent of Canada’s population.

Even if provincial governments lift their restrictions, American alcohol producers may not immediately regain Canadian consumers. Public anger toward Trump remains significant, particularly following his repeated suggestions that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.

“I would be surprised, even if the liquor goes back on the shelves, if Canadians buy it,” said the industry figure.

Trump administration officials have repeatedly criticized Canada for being one of only two countries, alongside China, to retaliate against his tariffs. At the same time, the administration is pressing Ottawa to dismantle or loosen longstanding protections for Canada’s dairy industry, another source of friction between the neighboring countries.

Canadian negotiators LeBlanc and Janice Charette have been seeking reductions in U.S. national security tariffs affecting automobiles as well as steel and aluminum. The Trump administration, however, has maintained its position on the 50 percent tariffs covering steel, according to three people familiar with the metals negotiations.

“That’s probably going to be something that is much more of a longer term” discussion, one of the people said, “if at all.”

Greer told reporters last week that he remains pleased with the steel tariffs and their effects on the U.S. steel sector.

“This is working,” he argued, pointing to increased domestic steel production. Through mid-August, U.S. steel production had risen by more than 5 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute, while capacity utilization had increased by two percentage points.

“We’re seeing huge success in the American steel industry, which is exactly what President Trump wanted,” Greer said during a trip to Iowa Thursday.

Florida’s 25th Congressional District has its two general election nominees. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), a staunch, AIPAC-backed supporter of Israel, was projected Tuesday to defeat Oliver Larkin, a Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed challenger, in the Democratic primary, according to Fox News, Decision Desk HQ and NBC News. With roughly 86% of the expected vote counted, Moskowitz led 64.1% to 35.9%.

On the Republican side, Jewish attorney and former three-term Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer won the GOP primary, defeating a crowded field that included Dan Franzese, George Moraitis, Raven Harrison, and Joe Kaufman. Singer campaigned on securing the border, standing with Israel and fighting antisemitism, and backing President Trump’s “America First” agenda, picking up endorsements from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL).

Moskowitz and Singer now face each other in November in a heavily Jewish, coastal South Florida seat both parties consider a toss-up that could help decide control of the House.

Despite being alligned with President Trump’s agenda, Scott Singer has not received a formal endorsement from Trump

Democrat socialist Oliver Larkin, 34, a self-identified DSA member and former union organizer making his first run for office, campaigned on Medicare for All, a $25 federal minimum wage, and ending U.S. aid to Israel. He was the only DSA-endorsed candidate running in a competitive general-election swing district this cycle, and his campaign was seen nationally as a test of the DSA’s momentum heading into the midterms — a test it failed to pass, following a DSA loss in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary the previous week. Moskowitz vastly outraised Larkin over the course of the race, roughly $2.5 million to $550,000.

The newly redrawn 25th District stretches along the coast from Delray Beach to Miami Beach through Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties, and was reshaped by Republican-led redistricting.

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration announced sanctions Tuesday against International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane and senior ICC lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, citing their roles in investigations involving U.S. and Israeli officials.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions, accusing the ICC of being “corrupt and fatally politicized” and of engaging in what the administration has repeatedly called illegitimate efforts to target the United States and its ally Israel.

The move is the latest in a series of U.S. sanctions against ICC officials since President Trump signed an executive order back in February authorizing punitive measures against the court.

Previous rounds of sanctions have targeted ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, several ICC judges, and deputy prosecutors over the court’s investigation into alleged war crimes by U.S. forces in Afghanistan and its arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The ICC has consistently condemned the sanctions as attacks on its judicial independence.

Nassau County Executive and New York gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman released a video of his recent visit to Camp Simcha, where he cheered on bikers raising funds for children fighting serious illnesses.

During the visit several weeks ago, Blakeman thanked the camp’s staff for their life-changing work and toured the facilities to see what makes Camp Simcha unique.

“Camp Simcha brings joy to children when they need it most,” Blakeman tells Belaaz. “It turns difficult moments into unforgettable memories and reminds every child and family that they are never alone. Camp Simcha is more than a camp, it’s a place where hope, friendship, and joy come alive.”

Voters in Alaska, Florida and Wyoming head to the polls Tuesday for primaries that could help shape the 2026 midterm elections. Control of Congress is at stake in November, with Democrats hoping to capitalize on President Donald Trump’s declining approval ratings.

“The decline in President Trump’s approval ratings across a range of issues has increased Democratic prospects,” said one recent analysis from TD Cowen. “Divided government could leave policy in a gridlock.”

The three states are highlighting very different issues: taxes in Alaska, data centers in Florida and cryptocurrency in Wyoming.

Alaska

Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan faces a major challenge from former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola in Alaska’s Senate race. The state’s top four primary finishers will advance to a ranked-choice general election.

The Cook Political Report rates the contest a toss-up. Peltola, who previously won statewide in 2022, is running a centrist campaign focused on energy and tax policy.

She supports targeted tax credits for oil and gas refineries and faster permitting for energy projects. She also wants to eliminate federal income taxes for Alaskans earning less than $92,000, funded through higher taxes on millionaires and billionaires.

Peltola has sought to distance herself from the national Democratic Party, including recently moving away from an endorsement by former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Sullivan, a Marine veteran and longtime senator, has Trump’s endorsement. Another Republican candidate named Daniel Sullivan is also on the ballot, raising concerns that voters could confuse the two candidates.

Florida

Florida’s gubernatorial and Senate primaries are being shaped in part by growing opposition to data centers and concerns about rising electricity costs.

Trump-backed Rep. Byron Donalds is the leading Republican candidate to replace term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis. Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and investor James Fishback are also running.

Donalds says data center developers should pay their own infrastructure costs and has rejected claims that technology-industry donations would influence his position.

Collins has called for a “Florida Strong standard [that] requires operators to fund their own project infrastructure and meet Florida’s water, reliability, and ratepayer terms, so families and seniors are never stuck subsidizing Big Tech’s power demand.”

Fishback has proposed going further, saying he would ban data centers in “all 67 counties by preventing county commissions from approving them in the first place.”

Former Republican-turned-independent Rep. David Jolly is seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Republican Sen. Ashley Moody is also running for a full Senate term and is expected to face the eventual Democratic nominee.

Wyoming

Wyoming voters are choosing candidates to replace Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis, who is retiring after her current term. Lummis, known as the “crypto queen,” has been a leading congressional advocate for cryptocurrency legislation.

Trump-endorsed Rep. Harriet Hageman is considered the favorite to succeed her. While Hageman has generally supported crypto, she has focused her campaign more heavily on reducing federal regulation and addressing resource issues.

Democrats face a difficult path in Wyoming, where no Democrat has won statewide office since 2006. State Rep. James Byrd is among the Democrats competing for the Senate nomination.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday that preserving peace remains “most important” for the country, while warning that Seoul must also be prepared for the “worst case scenario.” His remarks come as the Trump administration moves to significantly scale back joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises.

.S. President Donald Trump directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” joint military drills with South Korea, arguing that continuing them could “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” toward North Korea.

In a Truth Social post Sunday, Trump pointed to his “very good” relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and characterized North Korea as “unthreatening and respectful.”

Lee emphasized Tuesday that the annual exercises, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, are defensive in nature. According to a CNBC translation of the Korean government statement, he said the drills are not designed to attack North Korea or increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The exercises are scheduled to continue through Aug. 27 and involve roughly 18,000 South Korean military personnel.

For Seoul, the situation presents a delicate balance: maintaining stability and avoiding unnecessary escalation while ensuring the country remains prepared for a potential security crisis.

Lee’s comments underscore the tension between efforts to reduce confrontation with North Korea and the need to preserve military readiness amid uncertainty over the future of U.S.-South Korean defense cooperation.

A growing campaign is pushing New York City to make Citi Bike more affordable, with Transportation Alternatives calling for a $3 price cap on 45-minute electric-bike rides for members, the same amount riders pay for a subway or bus trip.

At present, Citi Bike members can pay $12.15 for a comparable ride, while non-members face even higher costs.

“My daughter, who recently moved to the city in her early 20s, really wants to use these for transportation,” Citi Bike rider Sarah Max said. “And we were actually just chatting about it the other day, that it’s almost as much as a taxi.”

Citi Bike’s revenue has climbed sharply since Lyft took over the system. In 2021, about a year after the takeover, the program generated roughly $88 million annually. By 2025, that figure had increased to $229 million, while Citi Bike prices have also risen every year.

Brooklyn City Council Member Lincoln Restler said Citi Bike has become the most expensive bike-share system among major cities.

Restler has introduced legislation aimed at bringing down the cost, though the measure has not yet advanced.

“We are the only major city with a large bike-share program that doesn’t offer public subsidy for bike-share,” Restler said. “And it’s time that we revisit that.”

“We subsidize every other form of transit, from our ferries, to our express buses, to the subways,” he added. “We should be doing the same for Citi Bike.”

Under the city’s current arrangement, New York shares Citi Bike revenue with Lyft. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has previously expressed support for reducing the cost of the service, but so far has not presented a specific plan to do so.

A 6-year-old boy and his 4-year-old brother were seriously wounded after being stabbed inside their home in Beit Shemesh. Their father found them and alerted emergency services; the older boy was in critical condition.

Police are investigating the attack as a possible domestic or localized incident, with a neighbor reportedly among the suspects.

HAMILTON HEIGHTS, Manhattan — A firefighter was seriously injured while battling a fire that broke out on the top floor of a residential building in Hamilton Heights, according to the FDNY.

Firefighters were dispatched to 3657 Broadway shortly after 6:15 p.m. Sunday following reports of a fire on the roof, officials said.

The blaze was quickly elevated to a two-alarm response as crews worked to contain the flames. Firefighters brought the fire under control at approximately 7:45 p.m.

One firefighter suffered serious injuries, while three others sustained minor injuries, officials said. A civilian was also hurt. All of the injured were transported to nearby hospitals for treatment.

Citizen footage showed intense flames engulfing the top floor while firefighters worked from the roof to bring the blaze under control.

Officials had not immediately determined what caused the fire.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon on Sunday to reduce the scope of planned joint military exercises with South Korea, citing Seoul’s refusal to assist the United States in efforts to denuclearize Iran.

Trump said in a social media post that the exercises, scheduled to start this week, are expensive and “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea. He also said North Korea “has been unthreatening and respectful” during his time in the White House.

“Therefore, and based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises!” Trump wrote. He also said he had recently asked South Korean President to support U.S. efforts to denuclearize Iran, “and they said, ‘No thanks!’”

The 11-day military exercises, involving 18,000 South Korean troops, were intended to strengthen the allies’ preparedness for potential threats from North Korea.

North Korea issued a warning Friday, threatening unspecified stern measures against the United States and South Korea. Pyongyang described the military exercises as “a rehearsal for an aggressive war” and accused the drills of contributing to heightened instability across the region.

Such warnings are common from North Korea before major U.S.-South Korean military exercises. Experts say Pyongyang has frequently pointed to the drills as justification for expanding its weapons testing, strengthening its military capabilities and rallying domestic support behind leader Kim Jong Un.

Under the original plans, U.S. and South Korean forces were expected to rehearse combined operations under complicated battlefield conditions. The exercises were to include a live-fire drill testing joint precision targeting and maneuver capabilities, a wet-gap crossing operation and the distribution of military equipment that had been positioned in advance, according to the U.S. military.

Hundreds of police officers are set to flood Washington Heights and Inwood on Sunday as city officials take steps to prevent another massive gathering from developing along Dyckman Street following last weekend’s deadly violence and widespread property damage.

Authorities said approximately 700 officers will be positioned throughout the neighborhoods after a social media post circulated promoting a “Dominican Dyckman Takeover Part 3” scheduled to begin at noon Sunday.

The increased police presence comes exactly one week after thousands of young people converged on the Dyckman area following the Dominican Day Parade. Officials said the massive crowd overwhelmed police resources and resulted in damage to vehicles and nearby businesses.

Council Member Carmen De La Rosa said people came from multiple states to participate in last Sunday’s gathering. According to officials, damage to property and vehicles totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The unrest also turned deadly when a 23-year-old man was fatally stabbed.

“When these gatherings happen, the toll on the safety of our community is real,” De La Rosa said. “We unfortunately have lost a young life based on the violence that ensued after these activities occurred in our community, and we send our deepest condolences to his family.”

Officials stressed that their intention is not to target or demonize those attending, but rather to stop a repeat of the violence, disorder and destruction seen the previous weekend.

Local business owners, meanwhile, said another early shutdown would come at a significant cost, particularly for those who already lost business after closing their establishments early because of safety concerns.

The Trump administration secretly opened a backchannel to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in May after U.S. officials questioned whether Tehran’s formal negotiators had the authority to make a deal, Axios reported Sunday. Washington turned to Iraqi Kurdish President Nechirvan Barzani, who maintains ties with both U.S. officials and senior figures in Iran.

Around May 10, then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called Barzani with the approval of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, according to the report. She asked him to determine whether IRGC commander Gen. Ahmad Vahidi supported negotiations being conducted by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

On May 14, an IRGC official reportedly arrived at Barzani’s office in Erbil carrying an encrypted phone for a secure call with Vahidi. Asked whether he backed the Iranian negotiating team, Vahidi replied: “I fully support them and this is also the position of the IRGC. We prefer to solve this crisis through negotiations.” Barzani then immediately briefed Gabbard on the response.

The administration later proposed using Erbil for secret talks between senior American and Iranian negotiators. Iranian officials did not reject the idea, but reportedly feared Israeli intelligence could assassinate them in Iraqi Kurdistan or while traveling there, and the meeting never took place.

Pakistani and Qatari mediators continue passing messages between Washington and Tehran, but the talks have made little progress. Barzani has recently offered the White House his help in restarting negotiations, according to Axios.

Hurricane Lala moved toward Hawaii’s Big Island on Saturday, bringing heavy rain and strong winds while forecasters warned of potentially deadly flooding, mudslides and damaging conditions. Some higher elevations could receive as much as 25 inches of rain.

Hurricane Lala began moving toward the Big Island on Saturday, although forecasters said it remained uncertain whether the storm would make a direct hit, something that has not happened there in 155 years.

In its newest forecast discussion, meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center said Lala appeared to be following a potentially different path, leaving it “unclear if Lala will actually make a landfall on the Big Island.”

The storm was already generating potentially life-threatening rainfall across the Big Island while maintaining sustained winds of 75 mph, National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said in a video update at 11 a.m. local time.

“Some locations have already picked up more than a foot of rain,” he said. “We’re also seeing numerous hurricane-level wind gusts, especially at higher elevations.”

Brennan said the island’s windward, or eastern, side was experiencing the heaviest impacts, with elevated areas receiving the most rain while also facing the strongest winds.

Although the hurricane’s forecast cone initially pointed toward a historic direct strike on the Big Island, forecasters said Saturday morning that a developing area of low pressure to the west could steer Lala south of the island instead.

Brennan said Lala could become stronger during the next several hours, with the greatest potential for damaging conditions occurring within the following 6 to 12 hours. Once the storm interacts with the Big Island, however, forecasters expect it to weaken considerably.

Lala was positioned roughly 65 miles south-southeast of South Point on the Big Island and was traveling northwest at about 8 mph, according to the latest National Hurricane Center update.

Earlier forecasts reported that Lala’s maximum sustained winds had reached 75 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane. The latest update maintained that wind speed.

Forecasters expected the hurricane’s eyewall to pass over or close to the island’s southern tip by evening, bringing its strongest winds to volcanic slopes located thousands of feet above sea level.

Higher elevations, particularly around the towering Mauna Kea volcano, could receive as much as 25 inches (63.5 centimeters) of rain, according to forecasters.

Such rainfall could trigger life-threatening mudslides in mountainous communities where some residents live off the grid in improvised homes. Authorities urged those residents to seek secure shelter as quickly as possible.

Gov. Josh Green characterized Lala as an “enormous storm” and cautioned residents about destructive flooding as well as the possibility of strong winds worsening wildfire threats across the islands. Power outages had affected about 10% of Big Island customers, according to poweroutage.us.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the Big Island, while tropical storm warnings covered Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau.

Research by a University of Hawaii atmospheric scientist found that a Category 3 hurricane struck the northeastern part of the Big Island in 1871. Vanessa Almanza, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Honolulu, said the latest forecast placed Lala “very close to the southern tip of the Big Island.”

Authorities opened shelters, canceled events and advised ranchers to keep cattle in open pastures instead of buildings that could potentially collapse. Almanza emphasized that “It doesn’t take landfall to create destruction,”

The hurricane center forecast 8 to 12 inches (20.3 to 30.5 centimeters) of rain across Maui and the lower elevations of the Big Island, while other parts of the island chain could receive between 4 and 6 inches (10.2 to 15.2 centimeters).

Officials Urge Residents to Take Lala Seriously

State Rep. Jeanné Kapela urged residents to stay vigilant as the storm approached. The southern portion of the Big Island is largely rural and remote, with coffee farms and cattle operations, but its population has grown because housing is relatively affordable. Kapela said she was particularly concerned about people living off the grid.

“If you feel now that your house doesn’t have a great roof or might not be able to withstand hurricane force winds, then first things first you go to a family or friend’s house and you kind of hunker down there,” she said in a text message to The Associated Press.

The state is still recovering from severe flooding that struck in March, leaving many residents and agricultural producers dealing with lingering damage. Hawaii Farm Bureau director Brian Miyamoto said farmers who have not yet recovered are concerned that Lala could cause additional losses.

Strong Winds Could Also Increase Wildfire Threat

As winds strengthened throughout the islands, Almanza warned that dry and breezy areas outside Lala’s core could face elevated wildfire danger.

In 2023, the Maui community of Lahaina was devastated by a wildfire during extreme winds as a hurricane passed well south of the island.

Kauai, located several islands northwest of the Big Island, experienced a direct hurricane strike in 1992 when Hurricane Iniki came ashore as a Category 4 storm. That occurred during an El Nino year, a climate pattern that warms Pacific waters near the equator, increases hurricane activity in the Pacific and influences weather patterns around the world.

“It did $3 billion worth of damage. It destroyed thousands of homes, and it did kill six people,” said Steven Businger, the University of Hawaii atmospheric scientist. “We just can never know if a storm is going to turn.”

ETTRICK, Va. (AP) — Authorities arrested a 19-year-old man Saturday after a shooting near Virginia State University left five people wounded, including one victim who suffered critical injuries.

Chesterfield County police identified the suspect as Camron Harris of Henrico, Virginia. Investigators said Harris, who is not enrolled at Virginia State University, was discovered hiding inside a campus closet Saturday afternoon.

Police obtained eight felony warrants against Harris. The charges include malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

The shooting occurred early Saturday near the university’s Quad Annexes. Campus police and Chesterfield County officers responded to the area and found five people with gunshot wounds outside campus residence halls.

Authorities said only one of the five victims, a 20-year-old, is a Virginia State University student. The other victims are between 17 and 23 years old.

A 21-year-old man suffered critical injuries, while the other four victims sustained injuries that were considered non-life-threatening. University officials said the injured student has since been released from the hospital.

The incident led officials to place the campus under lockdown while law enforcement investigated. The university initially described the situation as involving “multiple suspects.” Authorities later lifted the lockdown after determining that there was no longer an immediate danger to the campus community.

The shooting happened just as students were preparing to begin the new academic year. Residence halls opened one week earlier, and classes are scheduled to resume Monday. Many incoming students had also recently completed the university’s New Trojans Experience.

A significant law enforcement presence remained on campus Saturday morning. University officials urged students to monitor their email for additional safety updates and information about available support services.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office are assisting Chesterfield County police with the investigation.

Virginia State University is a historically Black public university located in Ettrick, approximately 24 miles south of Richmond. The institution has about 5,700 students and was the first fully state-supported four-year college established for Black Americans.

The investigation remains active, and authorities have not announced that it is complete.

A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck off Indonesia’s eastern Flores region, leaving at least 47 people dead and triggering tsunami warnings as authorities urged residents to move away from coastal areas and riverbanks.

The United States Geological Survey reported Friday that the earthquake occurred offshore near Flores. Its epicenter was located about 42 miles north-northwest of Ende, in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province.

Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency reported Saturday that the death toll had reached at least 47.

Emergency crews were still unable to reach Nagekeo, the area nearest the earthquake’s epicenter, because landslides had blocked roads and communications had been disrupted, according to officials.

“The quake was massive, the shock was so strong,” Nona, a 51-year-old resident of Talibura, a village in East Nusa Tenggara, told Reuters. “There were 13 of us inside the house and we all ran to save ourselves.”

In the port city of Maumere, rescuers earlier reported finding 20 people dead, six injured and two others trapped beneath debris, according to Fathur Rahman, the head of the local rescue agency. Maumere serves as the principal town of Sikka Regency on Flores Island.

People remained trapped inside several structures in areas hit by the earthquake, while landslides were reported to have cut off multiple roads and complicated rescue operations.

Initial assessments indicated that 157 homes suffered severe damage, while another 41 sustained moderate damage and 148 had minor damage. Officials also reported damage to 87 schools, 18 health facilities, five religious sites and six government or office buildings, in addition to other infrastructure.

Strong shaking was felt across large portions of Flores Island, where significant damage was reported in several locations.

Yohanna Embu, who lives in Sikka Regency, said the earthquake damaged numerous buildings and sent frightened residents scrambling toward higher ground.

“Many buildings here were damaged. … I saw that the waiting room at the port terminal in Maumere had collapsed,” she said.

Indonesian officials initially issued tsunami warnings covering portions of East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi. Authorities advised people to avoid beaches and riverbanks, while residents along the coast were told to seek higher ground. The earthquake occurred beneath the sea near Flores Island at a relatively shallow depth.

The main earthquake was followed by two aftershocks.

At St. Peter Major Seminary in Sikka, students attending morning Mass fled after the roof of an assembly hall collapsed, according to the seminary’s rector, the Rev. Guidelbertus Tanga. The school, known locally as Ritapiret Seminary, is located on the predominantly Catholic island of Flores.

“Our students and nuns ran out in panic beneath a collapsing roof,” Tanga said, “At least one priest suffered a broken leg after jumping from the second floor of a building during the quake.”

Australia’s tsunami warning center separately determined that the undersea earthquake posed “no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories.”

Indonesia is an archipelago made up of more than 17,000 islands and frequently experiences earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The country lies along the Pacific Basin’s “Ring of Fire,” a region characterized by numerous active volcanoes and major fault lines.

Flores has experienced deadly earthquakes and tsunamis before. In December 1992, a magnitude-7 earthquake generated a tsunami that killed roughly 2,500 people on Flores, in the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago.

The latest disaster follows a magnitude-7.4 earthquake that struck western Colombia on Monday, causing extensive damage.

Earlier in June, two powerful earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 struck in succession in Venezuela. More than 6,000 people were killed, according to government figures.

Terry Moran says his 2021 “Nightline” report was substantially altered after a copy of the script was allegedly sent to Dr. Anthony Fauci, leaving him “absolutely livid.”

Former ABC News correspondent Terry Moran is accusing his former employer of significantly changing a report he produced about the origins of COVID-19 after the network allegedly provided a copy of the script to Dr. Anthony Fauci for review.

During an interview released Friday on The Fifth Column podcast, Moran described the episode as an example of what he viewed at the time as the “heavy hand of censorship” within the Disney-owned network.

Moran said that in early 2021, he noticed “smart and serious” discussions online about the possibility that COVID-19 had originated through a laboratory leak. According to Moran, ABC’s Nightline subsequently gave him an opportunity to investigate the theory.

As part of his reporting, Moran said he interviewed scientists as well as officials from the Trump administration. He emphasized that his report did not reach a definitive conclusion about COVID’s origins but instead presented the competing evidence and arguments.

Moran said his reporting included information about funding connected to the laboratory in Wuhan. He recalled that his team reported that the facility had received funding from the Chinese military, despite statements from Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli, sometimes referred to as the “Bat Lady,” denying that connection.

“We broke a little news that that lab had been funded by the Chinese military, despite the ‘Bat Lady’ [Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli] saying no, it hadn’t… And we kind of laid it out,” Moran said. “And at the end of the day, my own personal feeling was, you know, it’s probably a little bit more likely it’s natural. But if you told me it had leaked from the lab, fine. It’s probably not cooked up. It’s probably not a ‘Frankenvirus.’”

Moran said the situation changed dramatically on the day the segment was scheduled to broadcast. After the report went through the review process, he said the version returned to him was so heavily modified that he found it difficult to understand.

“And the day that it’s supposed to air, it gets reviewed, and it comes back to me, and it is incomprehensible,” Moran continued. “And I had never been angrier. I’m in the booth–”

Podcast co-host Michael Moynihan asked Moran whether lawyers were responsible for reviewing the report.

“Are these lawyers?” podcast co-host Michael Moynihan asked.

“Lawyers, standards and, I was told, Fauci,” Moran responded. “And I said, ‘I can’t do this.’ And they’re going to air and it’s a 15-minute piece or whatever. And I’m cursing and screaming in the booth.”

Moran said the changes were made on the very day the segment was scheduled to air, intensifying his frustration with the editorial process.

“And this is day of?” co-host Matt Welch followed.

“Day of air,” Moran said. “And I am just absolutely livid, beside myself. And I’m usually — I try to be a good colleague that way. It’s important to be respectful of somebody on the other end of that mic taking it in in New York and the editor… I have never watched that story and never want to, because it wasn’t mine, I didn’t think, and most importantly because it was incomprehensible. They had put so many caveats in there, and it was so legalized.”

Moran was then asked whether ABC had provided Fauci with the report before it was broadcast.

“So they took the story that you did and either sent a copy of the transcript or a copy of the video to Anthony Fauci?” Moynihan then asked.

Moran said he understood that the script, rather than the completed video, had been provided, although he acknowledged that he could not personally verify that account.

“It would’ve been the script, that’s what I was told. I don’t know if that’s true personally, but I was told that,” Moran answered.

The two-part Nightline report ultimately aired in June 2021 and examined competing arguments concerning the origins of COVID-19. Moran interviewed Jamie Metzl, a former member of the World Health Organization’s committee on human genome editing who had publicly raised questions about a potential laboratory leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

However, Metzl was one of several experts featured in the report, and other medical specialists interviewed by Moran rejected the laboratory-leak explanation. ABC News medical unit producer Sony Salzman and investigative reporter Sasha Pezenik also appeared in the segment and expressed skepticism toward the theory.

Moran, who left ABC News in 2025, has also pushed back against what he considers excessive criticism of Fauci. Although he described his experience with the report as deeply frustrating, Moran said the “demonization” of Fauci was inappropriate and characterized him as a public servant who was trying to do his best.

Neither Moran, Fauci nor ABC News responded to requests for comment regarding Moran’s allegations. An inquiry was also sent to the White House.

Fauci has returned to the center of public attention following the release of diary material by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. The material has drawn renewed scrutiny to Fauci’s private reflections about the pandemic and how they compared with statements and guidance he issued publicly.

The diary material also highlighted Fauci’s relationships with several prominent media personalities, including CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell and ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.

Earlier this month, Senate Republicans on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress after he invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times during a hearing the previous month. Fauci accused Paul of pursuing a campaign to have him imprisoned, while a criminal referral was subsequently sent to the Department of Justice.

The debate over COVID-19’s origins has continued to evolve since the early months of the pandemic. Several U.S. government agencies, including the CIA, FBI and Department of Energy, have in recent years assessed a laboratory-related origin as the most likely explanation. At the same time, numerous scientists continue to support a natural-origin explanation, leaving the question unresolved and subject to ongoing debate.

Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said President Donald Trump helped deliver a major project for her state that she was unable to secure during the Biden administration, highlighting an unusual point of agreement between the two political rivals.

Speaking Thursday during a conversation with California Gov. Gavin Newsom on his podcast, Whitmer discussed how she has approached working with Trump after Michigan backed him in the 2024 presidential election. She said she had to reconsider how she would work with the administration following the election.

Newsom pointed out that Whitmer had visited the White House, with both governors acknowledging that maintaining a functional relationship with the president is “part of the job.”

Whitmer said her cooperation with the Trump administration had already produced tangible results for Michigan, specifically citing the fighter aircraft mission at Selfridge Air National Guard Base.

“I’ve gotten some really good stuff done. Honestly,” she told Newsom. “I got a fighter mission at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, and I tried to get that done under the Biden administration, couldn’t get over the finish line, but I got it done with him. So, that’s a huge deal to Michigan.”

The project Whitmer referenced appears to be Mission Next, an initiative that will replace Selfridge’s aging A-10 Warthog aircraft with 21 new F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets. The modernization effort also includes infrastructure and construction improvements intended to support additional jobs and training opportunities at the Michigan National Guard installation.

Trump announced the fighter jet mission in April 2025 during remarks to Michigan National Guard personnel at Selfridge, where he marked his 100th day in office.

“Fresh off the line. That means they are brand new,” Trump said at the time. “They’ve never been anywhere. This is where they’re going to be for a long time. And I saw one of them, flew over my head, and I said, ‘What the hell is that?’ That plane has serious power. So, this is the best there is anywhere in the world, the F-15EX Eagle II. This will keep Selfridge at the cutting edge of Northern American air power.”

Biden’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Whitmer’s remarks.

The White House also pointed to the Selfridge decision as evidence of Trump’s approach to Michigan and national defense.

“While Joe Biden’s weak policies neglected our military, President Trump saved Selfridge Air National Guard Base, a crucial pillar of North American air defense; rebuilt our military; and restored readiness and lethality to our U.S. Armed Forces,” White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital Friday.

“With President Trump as commander in chief, the United States Military will continue to lead the world in power, prestige, and might,” Wales continued. “President Trump proudly won the state of Michigan in 2024, and will continue to deliver on his promises for all Michiganders.”

Whitmer told Newsom that she has experience working with people who are not necessarily close allies and said she understands the importance of doing so even when she may personally disagree with them.

Her relationship with Trump has drawn attention before. In April 2025, Whitmer attracted widespread attention after appearing to shield her face with a folder during photographs at an Oval Office meeting with Trump.

Whitmer later explained that she simply did not want her photograph taken and acknowledged that the moment had become a source of attention.

“I don’t want my picture taken, that’s all it was. I kind of wished I hadn’t put my folder up in front of my face, but whatever. You know I was there … I just wrote a book about learning to laugh at yourself, so I’m pretty good at it. We all have our moments,” Whitmer said.

Trump, for his part, praised Whitmer around that time, describing her as a “very good person,” despite the political clashes the two have had over the years.

The White House later criticized Whitmer in April after a Michigan steel manufacturer announced plans to invest $43.4 million in expanding its operations in the state.

“Democrats like Gretchen Whitmer spent decades talking about fixing broken trade deals and creating manufacturing jobs here in America for American workers,” Kush Desai, a White House spokesperson, told Fox News Digital earlier this year.

Desai was referring to Whitmer, who has frequently been mentioned as a potential Democratic contender for president in 2028.

“President Trump is actually delivering, and he’s delivering with the same agenda of tariffs, deregulation.”

MIDTOWN, Manhattan — Protesters gathered outside Madison Square Garden on Friday to challenge the venue’s use of facial recognition technology, arguing that the practice raises significant concerns about privacy and how guests’ biometric information is collected and used.

Demonstrators are calling on lawmakers to intervene, saying legislation is needed to prevent entertainment venues and other businesses from deploying facial recognition without sufficient safeguards.

City Council member Shahana Hanif joined privacy advocates who want New York City to prohibit the widespread use of surveillance technology in settings including stores, restaurants and entertainment venues such as Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall, both operated by James Dolan.

“For years, MSG owner James Dolan has doubled down on using facial recognition to scan anyone entering his venues and banning individuals that he dislikes,” said Michelle Dahl with Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. “In one widely reported case, a mother was turned away from Radio City Music Hall, simply because she worked at a law firm involved in litigation against Dolan. She was there chaperoning her Girl Scout troop and posed no security threat.”

Hanif is backing legislation that would prohibit the collection of biometric information through facial recognition technology. A separate proposal would prevent landlords from using similar technology to identify or monitor residents.

The proposals have encountered opposition, particularly from small-business owners who view facial recognition and other surveillance tools as important security measures. Supporters of the technology argue that it can help deter crime, while police agencies frequently use surveillance footage when investigating serious offenses.

Critics of Madison Square Garden’s facial recognition practices, however, contend that the technology can be used selectively and is not always essential for security. They pointed to surveillance cameras reportedly being turned off during Taylor Swift’s wedding as an example.

“So clearly, this technology is not actually that necessary for security,” Dahl said.

Supporters of the legislation say the effort is building support at City Hall and argue that New Yorkers should not have to surrender biometric information simply to participate in everyday activities.

“You should not have to give up your sensitive biometric data to walk into the grocery store, to pick your kids up from school, or to go see an awesome concert at Madison Square Garden,” said Evan Greer with Fight For the Future.

Advocates also warn that storing biometric information creates another potential vulnerability: hackers could potentially gain access to sensitive data that cannot easily be changed once compromised.

Eyewitness News contacted MSG for a response. The venue replied, “People have been recognizing each other’s faces since the beginning of time, we just do it electronically.”

FREDONIA, N.Y. — New York is investing heavily in a new rural hospital in Western New York, but Gov. Kathy Hochul says changes to federal healthcare policy could put additional financial strain on hospitals throughout the state.

Hochul visited Fredonia Thursday to showcase $124 million in state funding for the new Northern Chautauqua Hospital, a facility scheduled to open in 2029. The state contribution accounts for more than half of the project’s overall price tag.During the visit, however, Hochul broadened the discussion beyond the hospital under construction, warning that the future of healthcare in New York could face significant challenges.

“The state has had to step in after literally one year ago when the big, ugly, horrible bill was passed and withheld $10 billion in health care money from the state of New York,” Hochul said. “That is a big hit.”

According to Hochul, rural hospitals are dealing with a combination of reduced reimbursements, increasing operating expenses, staffing shortages and ongoing challenges in attracting doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers.

She said provisions affecting Medicaid and health insurance in the federal legislation frequently called the “One Big Beautiful Bill” by President Donald Trump and his supporters could make those existing problems worse.

Republicans, however, highlight another part of the legislation: the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program. The initiative will distribute money to states over five years with the goal of strengthening healthcare systems in rural areas.

New York was awarded more than $212 million through the program during its first year.

State Sen. George Borrello, a Republican whose district includes Fredonia, said that funding should be part of any discussion about how the federal legislation will affect rural healthcare.

“There is $50 billion for rural hospitals in the bill that she was bashing,” Borrello said.

Still, the two amounts serve different purposes and cannot be viewed as a simple dollar for dollar tradeoff.

The federal rural health funding is not intended primarily to compensate for Medicaid reimbursements or replace other healthcare funding that New York officials say could be reduced under different parts of the legislation.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services instead describes the Rural Health Transformation Program as an effort to modernize healthcare delivery in rural communities. Its priorities include primary care, technology, workforce development and alternative approaches to delivering care.

That difference has become a key point in the political dispute over the federal healthcare changes and their eventual consequences for rural hospitals.

While Hochul is warning that New York could lose billions through changes involving Medicaid and broader health coverage, the federal government is also providing new funding specifically aimed at reshaping and strengthening rural healthcare systems.

Borrello said New York should also examine issues within its own Medicaid system, particularly the rates providers receive for treating Medicaid patients.

“They all talk about one main thing: Medicaid,” Borrello said of hospitals and other providers in his district. “They all say the same thing, ‘Our Medicaid rates are below the cost of care.’”

The competing arguments point to a larger question for rural communities throughout New York: Can the new federal transformation funding give hospitals enough support to withstand the additional financial challenges that state officials anticipate?

The new hospital planned for Fredonia could provide an early measure of how New York ultimately navigates those competing pressures and approaches rural healthcare in the years ahead.

The 133,000-square-foot facility is planned to include 20 private medical, surgical and observation beds, a 17-bay emergency department, three operating rooms, three procedure rooms and 47 examination rooms serving primary and specialty care patients.

Hochul has said the hospital’s partnership with Kaleida Health gives her confidence that the facility will be financially sustainable once it begins serving patients.

Northern Chautauqua Hospital remains on track for an expected opening in 2029.

Phoebe Gates, daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is facing allegations that she knowingly used improper tracking cookies to claim credit for online sales she didn’t actually drive.

A new Bloomberg report found the founders knew about the practice since December — contradicting the company’s earlier claim that it only discovered the issue in July.

“Cookie stuffing” involves placing tracking cookies on users’ devices to make it appear that a company referred a customer to a retailer, potentially generating commissions without actually driving the sale.

Democratic lawmakers are pressing the War Department for answers about conditions aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln following reports that the strain of a prolonged deployment has taken a serious mental and physical toll on the roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines serving aboard the vessel.

A report by Navy Times on Tuesday said at least two sailors had to be stopped from going overboard. Other relatives who spoke with the publication described their loved ones as being in a deep emotional slump during the carrier’s extended deployment.

The Lincoln originally set out last November on a planned seven-month mission in the South China Sea. In January, however, the carrier was redirected to the Arabian Sea ahead of Operation Epic Fury against Iran, where it has remained ever since.

More than 200 family members reportedly met with acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao last week to discuss their concerns. One military spouse said her husband sent her a message saying that “he hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow,” according to an attendee who spoke with Stars and Stripes.

“When she can email me, she’s definitely down,” Shelby Sanders, whose mother is serving aboard the Lincoln, told Navy Times. “I think they’ve had five weeks of non-stop combat operations or something like that, so that makes it really tough to communicate consistently or even know if we’ll be able to. It sucks.”

Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.), whose district includes part of San Diego County, has also raised concerns about conditions aboard the carrier. In an Aug. 7 post on X, Levin said the Lincoln had “[m]oldy showers, broken toilets, no hot water for weeks, meals that came down to half a cup of rice and two tortillas,” along with a “ship’s store out of soap, deodorant, and toothpaste” and “sailors so worn down that, according to one family member, the ship’s own doctor warned they need to reach port soon or people are going to start losing their minds.”Levin escalated his criticism Wednesday, writing on X: “Today would be a great day for [President] Trump to fire [War Secretary] Pete Hegseth and replace him with someone who is actually competent,” he said. “Every American and every soldier deployed abroad would be safer for it.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) separately warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Cao in a Wednesday letter that the Lincoln “has not made a port call in over 200 days, setting a record for consecutive days at sea.”

Blumenthal said the carrier had been the subject of “widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns, and disruptions in the mail system, which have caused many care packages in route to the ship to be lost in transit for months,” adding that the Navy “must ensure that decisions to extend carrier deployments account not only for immediate operational requirements, but also for their cumulative effects on crew safety, equipment readiness, maintenance schedules, and the ability of the carrier force to meet future contingencies.”

The senator, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked the Navy to provide its own assessment of conditions aboard the Lincoln, including the physical and mental readiness of enlisted personnel to carry out their duties. He also sought an explanation of whether keeping the carrier deployed remains necessary to support US military objectives against Iran.

The Navy disputed reports of a rise in suicidal behavior aboard the ship.

“We have not observed an increase in suicidal ideations or attempts aboard the ship,” the Navy told CNN in a statement Thursday. “We take every service member’s well-being seriously and have religious, medical and mental health professionals available to assess and address concerns as they arise.”

Blumenthal concluded his letter by arguing that the sailors and Marines aboard the carrier deserve greater support after such an extended deployment.

“The men and women aboard the Lincoln have answered the call to serve their country. The Department owes them not only adequate supplies, maintenance, and support during this deployment, but a sustainable force-generation model that does not rely on repeatedly extending sailors and ships to meet persistent operational demands,” Blumenthal concluded.

“Our servicemembers deserve nothing less than the full support of their government and the American people deserve a military strategy that is worthy of the sacrifices we ask them to make.”

TAIPEI, Aug. 13, 2026 — Taiwan’s military conducted an exercise designed to prepare for a potential maritime blockade, deploying naval and coast guard forces to practice escorting a merchant vessel during the island’s annual Han Kuang war games. The Defense Ministry said Thursday that the drill comes as China increases pressure around Taiwan’s surrounding waters.

Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory, while Taipei maintains its own democratically elected government. Taiwanese authorities have repeatedly expressed concern that China could attempt to isolate the island through a blockade or quarantine operation aimed at forcing it to surrender.

Those concerns intensified in June, when China began conducting what it calls “law enforcement” patrols off Taiwan’s eastern coastline. The activity angered Taiwanese officials and raised additional concerns in Washington and other Western capitals.

According to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, the anti-blockade exercise incorporated realistic, combat-focused scenarios intended to improve coordination between government agencies and strengthen the island’s ability to protect its maritime routes during a crisis.

Navy and coast guard vessels jointly practiced escort and protective operations. A minesweeper was also used to clear a navigable route and guide the simulated merchant vessel safely toward port, the ministry said.

Taiwan’s coast guard, which would provide support to the navy during a wartime situation, said the exercise was held Wednesday and involved two ports along Taiwan’s eastern coast.

The coast guard said the operation marked the first time it had conducted an anti-blockade exercise jointly with the navy.

The 10-day Han Kuang military exercise began last week and is testing Taiwan’s response to a range of potential scenarios, including a Chinese attempt to capture the island by force. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s claim of sovereignty over the island.

On Thursday, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te visited an underground parking facility beneath a hospital in New Taipei, the city bordering Taipei, where authorities had established a temporary emergency medical ward as part of the civil-defense preparations.

Lai was joined by senior foreign diplomats stationed in Taiwan, including the de facto ambassadors representing the United States, Israel and Canada. Taiwan has shown particular interest in Israel’s experience with civil-defense preparedness and emergency response.

Taipei Bridge Defenses Put to the Test

Another portion of the Han Kuang exercise focused Wednesday night on protecting a strategically important bridge leading toward Taipei. Soldiers installed metal barricades, barbed wire and concrete obstacles along roads approaching the bridge, which could become a key target in a potential Chinese assault on the capital.

Chieh Chung, a researcher at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research who observed the exercise, said Taiwan’s defensive strategy in wartime could involve creating multiple layers of obstacles stretching from the bridge toward designated areas where attacking forces could be engaged.

The simulated operation was intended to slow or stop Chinese forces from using the bridge as a rapid route into Taipei.

“I believe the military’s plans would also include demolishing these bridges, if necessary, ensuring that the People’s Liberation Army would not be able to use them to cross the river ​quickly and continue its advance,” Chieh said.

The exercises are part of Taiwan’s broader effort to strengthen military readiness and civil-defense capabilities amid increasing Chinese military and maritime activity around the island.

Belaaz is saddened to report on the petirah of the Spinka – Bais Shmiel Tzvi Rebbe of Williamsburg, Harav Yosef Meir Horowitz ZT”L, who passed away this evening at the age of 58.

The Rebbe passed away after battling an illness. In recent days he was hospitalized in Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition, and sadly he was just niftar.

He was known by his Chasidim as a beloved Rebbe who led his kehillah with warmth, Avodas Hashem and his ahavas Yisroel and dedication to his Chassidim.

Levaya information will be published as soon as details become available.

Besuros Tovos

The U.S. Department of State announced Wednesday that it has established a Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force, saying the initiative has already resulted in hundreds of visa revocations involving foreign nationals suspected of abusing U.S. immigration and visa rules.

The announcement comes after President Donald Trump issued new executive orders aimed at addressing birth tourism. The administration’s actions follow a June 30 Supreme Court ruling that rejected Trump’s effort to end automatic U.S. citizenship for children born in the country to parents who are illegal immigrants or temporary visitors.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted concerns about visa abuse in a post on X.

“Elaborate birth tourism rings are profiting off the exploitation of America’s laws, coaching foreigners to defraud the U.S. visa system, arranging travel and housing, and even forging documents, all to enable foreign nationals to obtain citizenship for their children,” he said.

The State Department said it is reviewing the activities of visa holders around the world. Under the initiative, officials can revoke visas belonging to people suspected of participating in or helping facilitate birth tourism. The department said the broader objective is to break up organized networks and pursue those responsible.

Drawing on State Department records and information supplied by other federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the task force has revoked more than 600 visas during a single month.

Federal officials and U.S. consular personnel stationed at embassies and consulates worldwide have identified numerous instances in which applicants allegedly provided false or misleading information when seeking visas, according to the State Department.

The department cited the case of a foreign couple who allegedly lied twice on visa applications, first saying they planned to attend a conference and later claiming they were traveling for vacation. The couple subsequently gave birth to two children in the United States during separate trips.

Their visas were revoked.

In another case described by the department, a foreign national obtained a visa after saying she planned to vacation in Orlando. Instead, she traveled to Los Angeles and gave birth just five days after arriving in the United States.

Supreme Court Ruling Puts Birthright Citizenship Back in the Spotlight

The issue of birthright citizenship has taken on renewed significance following one of the most consequential Supreme Court decisions of the 2025–2026 term. The justices voted 6–3 to invalidate Trump’s executive order seeking to prevent children of illegal immigrants and certain temporary visa holders from automatically receiving U.S. citizenship at birth.

“A child born on American soil and subject to American law was made an American citizen,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion.

Trump subsequently said he intended to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider the case, though the high court rarely agrees to rehear cases it has already decided.

“This miscarriage of justice will destroy America if they don’t change their absolutely insane decision,” the president said at the time.

The administration ultimately failed to meet the July 27 deadline for submitting its petition, according to the report.

Trump’s two executive orders, signed on Aug. 6, seek to restrict birth tourism while also broadening the categories of people who could be considered ineligible for birthright citizenship, according to Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations moved the following day to stop the administration from enforcing the new executive orders, asking a federal judge on Aug. 11 to block them.

The dispute now places the State Department’s visa enforcement efforts alongside the broader administration battle over birth tourism and the constitutional rules governing citizenship for children born in the United States.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — New York is committing $7.2 million in state funding to maintain legal services for unaccompanied migrant children facing deportation proceedings after a federal contract providing representation expired, state officials announced Wednesday.

At a joint news conference involving state and city officials, Gov. Kathy Hochul said the funding will assist roughly 1,400 children with active removal cases. More than 250 of those children are currently being held in detention.

The New York State Office for New Americans is establishing contracts with a coalition of legal service organizations led by the Hispanic Federation. The effort is intended to provide continued representation to children who had previously received assistance through the now-expired federal program.

No child in our state should ever face the fear and uncertainty of the immigration process without advocates and legal support in their corner,” Hochul said. “While the Trump Administration is walking away from these children, New York is stepping up to help bridge the gap and ensure their continued access to the services they need and deserve.”

Hochul said federal law has required the government to provide legal assistance to migrant children for nearly 20 years, a policy followed by both Democratic and Republican administrations. She emphasized that attorneys are especially important for unaccompanied minors, who can face increased risks of trafficking, exploitation and abuse.

The Trump administration allowed a federal contract for legal representation of unaccompanied children to expire on July 31. The Acacia Center for Justice, through its network of immigration attorneys, had previously overseen legal assistance for approximately 24,000 unaccompanied minors.

“Today, as a result of this decision, children who have fled violence, trafficking, war, and abuse will walk into courtrooms alone,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the press conference Wednesday.

“Many of them had no other option but to travel here by themselves across thousands of miles. When they made it here to our city, they thought that maybe the worst would be behind them, that things would be different, but now they will stand alone again, as they face attacks from a trained government attorney across the aisle, whose sole objective is to deport them back to the place they endured so much to escape.”

According to the Washington Post, the Trump administration has awarded the Houston-based Burke Law Group a new, one-year, $150 million no-bid contract to provide legal services. The selection has drawn criticism from some experts, who have questioned the firm’s limited experience in immigration and child-advocacy law as well as its financial connections to the administration.

“New York will never stand by while vulnerable children are left to navigate our immigration system alone,” said state Attorney General Letitia James, who previously worked pro bono to represent unaccompanied migrant minors in court. “We will continue fighting to protect immigrant New Yorkers and push back against federal overreach that puts families and communities at risk.”

Earlier this year, Hochul signed legislation aimed at limiting the role of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York. The measure bars local governments and law enforcement agencies from entering agreements with the federal government for civil immigration enforcement, restricts officers from wearing face coverings while interacting with the public and creates a state-law pathway for New Yorkers to sue government officials over alleged constitutional-rights violations.

The legislation also restricts immigration enforcement activities at sensitive locations and protects migrant students’ ability to attend school regardless of their immigration status.

Kerestir, Hungary – Near the Kever of Reb Shayele of Kerestir, was the scene of a rare double simcha today, Wednesday, as a wedding and a Pidyon Haben took place there one after the next – for the same person.

The Pidyon Haben that took place is being described to Belaaz by a local as the first held in Kerestir since 1957, adding a layer of historical significance to the simcha — a claim Belaaz has not independently verified.

The wedding followed with a full seuda accompanied by live music on site at the Friedlander Achsanya, also known as ‘Reb Shayele’s Gast Hoiz’

A Belaaz correspondent was on the ground for the simcha watching the once in a life time event.

Footage from the event attached below:

Kerestir, Hungary – Near the Kever of Reb Shayele of Kerestir, was the scene of a rare double simcha today, Wednesday, as a wedding and a Pidyon Haben took place there one after the next – for the same person.

The Pidyon Haben that took place is being described to Belaaz by a local as the first held in Kerestir since 1957, adding a layer of historical significance to the simcha — a claim Belaaz has not independently verified.

The wedding followed with a full seuda accompanied by live music on site at the Friedlander Achsanya, also known as ‘Reb Shayele’s Gast Hoiz’

A Belaaz correspondent was on the ground for the simcha watching the once in a life time event.

Footage from the event attached below:

An Israeli woman and her daughter have been missing in Vienna since Friday, with Israel’s embassy in Austria appealing Tuesday for urgent help locating the pair.

Mali Yahalomi, 50, and her daughter Liel Yahalomi, 23, were last seen in the Austrian capital, according to the embassy. The two have had no contact with their family since Friday.

The embassy asked anyone with information about their whereabouts to call +43 6763672304 or contact local police. It also urged the public to share the missing persons alert on social media.

Israeli officials, Austrian authorities and representatives of the Jewish community are involved in an intensive effort to locate the mother and daughter.

According to the latest report, both Mali and Liel missed their scheduled flight from Prague and did not arrive before check-in closed, raising further concern as the search for them continues.

An Israeli official described the scale of the search:

“The whole world is on its feet trying to find them.”

The embassy does not believe the disappearance is related to a nationalistic incident, Channel 12 reported.

Neither the Israeli embassy nor the outlet provided further details about the pair’s last known sighting or the nature of their trip.

Austria has been among the European countries friendliest to Israel in recent years, as ties have soured with much of the continent over the war against Hamas in Gaza.

The IDF has identified the burial place of fallen soldier Shlomo Chaimson nearly 78 years after he was killed while trying to escape a British detention camp in Cyprus, the military announced Wednesday. Investigators determined that Chaimson is buried in grave No. 11, row 2, in the Cyprus immigrants’ section of a Haifa cemetery.

Chaimson was born in Romania in 1930 and lost his father during World War II. He later sailed toward Israel with his mother, Ita, and his partner, Perla, aboard the Pan York–Kibbutz Galuyot, but British forces intercepted the ship and deported its passengers to Cyprus. While detained, Chaimson joined the Haganah-backed Shurot HaMeginim and trained to become an IDF fighter after reaching Israel.

After Israel’s establishment, his mother and partner were released and moved to Israel. In September 1948, Chaimson learned that his daughter, Miriam, had been born and decided to escape. On the night of Sept. 29–30, he and eight others broke through the camp fence but were spotted by guards, who opened fire. Chaimson was killed and buried the following day in the Jewish cemetery in Margo, Cyprus, under a headstone bearing no name.

In 1970, Israel brought 163 people buried in Margo to Israel, around 120 of them unidentified, and reburied them in a special section in Haifa. A renewed identification effort began in 2010, and in 2023 the IDF established a special investigative team that examined archival material from around the world, collected testimony, analyzed period photographs and conducted archaeological surveys.

Chaimson’s daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who live in Rio de Janeiro, were informed Tuesday that the investigation had been completed. Brig. Gen. Edna Ilya said that when Chaimson’s name is placed on his grave, Israel will “restore his identity, his dignity and his rightful place in the heart of the nation.” His descendants are expected to travel to Israel for a military-state ceremony marking the identification.

A young father and husband in Toronto, who got married within the past year, suddenly became completely unconscious on Friday night while in Toronto for a family wedding.

He remains in critical, unstable condition.

A name has been added for Tehilim: The community is asked to daven urgently for the speedy recovery of – Refoel Moshe Nechemia ben Yocheved

Further updates will follow as they become available.

Darline Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman have advanced to a runoff in South Carolina’s Republican special Senate primary, according to the Associated Press, setting up the next stage of the contest to replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Because no Republican candidate secured more than 50% of Tuesday’s vote, Graham and Norman will compete in a runoff two weeks from now. Rep. Russell Fry, former Gov. and former Rep. Mark Sanford, and several other candidates failed to advance. The primary took place exactly one month after the longtime senator unexpectedly died at age 71.

The runoff represents another important test of President Donald Trump’s influence within the Republican Party, particularly the effectiveness of his endorsements in GOP primary contests. Trump endorsed Darline Graham, the late senator’s younger sister, in the race. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Graham last month to serve out the remainder of her brother’s current Senate term, which expires at the end of the year.

Graham said after casting her ballot Tuesday that she entered the race to help “President Trump get his agenda passed.”

Norman, who earlier this year unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for governor in the contest to replace term-limited Gov. Henry McMaster, is a strong Trump ally in the House. Fry, a two-term congressman, has likewise positioned himself as a supporter of the president during his Senate campaign.

Sanford entered the race with a different political profile. The former governor and congressman briefly challenged Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2020 but failed to gain traction. Sanford has long been identified with fiscal conservatism and made the country’s growing debt a central reason for seeking a Senate seat.

The Republican field was crowded, also featuring businessman Mark Lynch, who had previously challenged Lindsey Graham and lost to him by nearly 30 percentage points in the June Republican Senate primary.

The outcome underscores that a Trump endorsement is not necessarily a guarantee of victory, even in deeply Republican South Carolina.

Trump had previously endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in the Republican gubernatorial primary to determine who would succeed McMaster, who is barred by term limits from seeking another term. The primary was held in early June.

Evette finished as the leading vote-getter in that primary but was decisively defeated by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson in the subsequent runoff. Trump had also endorsed Wilson shortly before the runoff, giving him support in addition to his earlier backing of Evette.

The Republican nominee emerging from the Senate runoff in two weeks is expected to enter the general election as the clear favorite against Democratic nominee Annie Andrews, a pediatrician.

The race will ultimately determine who completes the next chapter of the Senate seat long held by Lindsey Graham, while also providing another indication of how much weight Trump’s backing carries with Republican voters heading into the 2026 midterm elections.

American citizen and former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman has been released by Russia on humanitarian grounds after more than four years in detention, U.S. officials confirmed Tuesday.

President Trump announced the release on Truth Social. “I am proud to announce that American Citizen Robert Gilman, a former United States Marine, is coming HOME!” Trump wrote, adding that Gilman would land at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, D.C. Tuesday night, where U.S. representatives, some of whom are traveling with him on the plane, will welcome him back.

Gilman, 32, of Lowell, Massachusetts, was arrested in Voronezh, Russia in January 2022 and later sentenced to prison on charges relating to an altercation with a police officer, allegations his family has disputed. Advocates said Gilman had been subjected to abusive treatment in custody and was recently found to be in a “dissociative stupor” — a catatonic, non-responsive state — after being moved to a civilian hospital in June.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson confirmed the release was carried out purely on humanitarian grounds, “not part of an exchange,” with no other concessions provided by the United States. Trump said he had personally discussed the release with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Gilman is now en route to the U.S. on a State Department plane, escorted by American personnel, and is expected to continue on to a military hospital in Texas for medical evaluation and treatment. A U.S. official said Gilman was walking and talking following his release.

Qatar has accused Israel of “dragging its feet” over the proposed roadmap for Gaza, arguing that Israel has repeatedly resisted efforts to advance the plan throughout the war in the Strip.

Majed al-Ansari, spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, said Doha wants the international community to increase pressure on Israel to move ahead with the second stage of the U.S.-backed 20-point plan for Gaza.

According to Ansari, Hamas has accepted the proposal, leaving Israel responsible for taking the next steps toward implementation.

Ansari also said Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are preparing to announce practical measures aimed at advancing the Gaza plan.

Turning to the ongoing U.S.-Iran discussions, Ansari said ensuring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz remains the immediate priority. He added that efforts should focus on restoring conditions in the waterway to what they were before the war.

Any future agreement concerning the strategic strait, Ansari said, must be reached through “regional concurrence and full respect for international law.”

Rabbi Yehuda Gerami visited the New York offices of the Tzedek Association Monday evening, meeting with the organization’s president, Rabbi Moshe Margaretten.

Speaking with Belaaz, Rabbi Gerami confirmed he is currently in the country for summer vacation.

Gerami’s visit has drawn attention given his position within Iran’s Jewish community in Tehran and relationship to the Iranian regime, with many wondering about the circumstances under which he is able to travel freely.

Belaaz has also learned that despite the IRGC and the Iranian regime historically maintaining relatively cordial relations with the country’s Jewish community, Iranian state media has recently shifted tone, increasingly characterizing Jews in hostile terms, R”L.

Belaaz has chosen not to publish additional travel details, given the sensitivities involved.

An off-campus residence housing members of Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) at UC San Diego was vandalized overnight with antisemitic graffiti, including swastikas, a Star of David, references to the KKK and the direct threat: “Die AEPi.”

The San Diego Police Department is investigating the incident as a bias-motivated hate crime, while UCSD police and university officials are assisting with the investigation.

Screenshot

UC San Diego publicly condemned the attack, stating: “UC San Diego condemns an off-campus antisemitic and racist incident targeting students. We stand against hate and support those impacted.”

AEPi said it is working with UCSD administrators, campus partners and local law enforcement as the investigation continues.

DAMASCUS, Syria.  A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced ousted President Bashar Assad and his younger brother, Maher Assad, to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during Syria’s 14-year conflict, a devastating war that claimed roughly half a million lives.

The ruling, issued by Damascus’ Fourth Criminal Court, represents the first criminal sentences against Assad or members of his inner circle since the Assad family’s five decades in power ended 20 months ago.

“Bashar Assad used state agencies to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity,” judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan said during a court hearing that was broadcast live on Syrian state television.

Assad’s maternal cousin, Atef Najib, was also sentenced to death after being convicted of directing a crackdown in the southern province of Daraa. The campaign helped trigger the uprising that eventually developed into a full-scale civil war. Al-Aryan said Najib has the right to appeal the verdict.

Security was heavy around the courthouse as Najib stood inside a prisoner’s cage wearing a uniform while the judge announced his sentence. Outside the central Damascus courthouse, a crowd gathered to listen to the verdict.

“Today is the day of justice for all the wounded, martyrs, detainees and Syrians who were forced to leave their country,” said attorney Adnan al-Masalmeh, who represented relatives of Najib’s victims. “Today marks a victory of right against injustice, a victory of the Syrian people against the ousted regime.”

Assad and Maher Assad fled to Russia after their government collapsed in December 2024 and were granted political asylum. Syria’s new authorities have since called on Moscow to surrender the two brothers.

Najib, who was placed under U.S. Treasury sanctions in April 2011, was subsequently detained and became one of the most senior Assad-era security officials to face trial.

A former Syrian army brigadier general, Najib headed the Political Security Branch in Daraa province in 2011 under Assad’s government.

During his time in charge, more than a dozen teenagers were arrested and tortured after writing anti-government graffiti on a school wall in Daraa. The incident became one of the sparks that ignited widespread demonstrations against the repression carried out by Assad’s security forces.

The demonstrations were answered with a violent government crackdown, eventually escalating into a 14-year civil war that ended when Assad was removed from power following a rapid rebel offensive.

Several of Najib’s victims attended Tuesday’s court proceedings. Among them were two men who had been teenagers when they were detained in 2011 and who later spoke with The Associated Press.

“Today we reached a point where the blood was not wasted,” said Mouawiya Sayasneh, referring to those killed during the crackdown. Fifteen years later, “there is happiness that Atef Najib was sentenced to death,” he said.

Nayef Abazeid, who was detained when he was just 13 years old in 2011, also welcomed the ruling. He said that “our biggest happiness will be when Bashar Assad is executed.”

Maher Assad previously commanded the Syrian military’s 4th Armored Division, a powerful unit that opposition activists have accused of carrying out killings, torture and extortion, as well as involvement in drug trafficking and operating its own detention facilities.

“Today’s scenes outside the courthouse reflect 15 years of pain and a justice long denied. Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all cases, including this one,” said Hiba Zayadin, Syria researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It’s cruel and irreversible, especially when a fair trial isn’t guaranteed.”

Zayadin emphasized that Najib is entitled to appeal and said the appeals process “needs to meet fair trial standards too.” She added that meaningful accountability for crimes committed during the Assad era will ultimately require Syria to establish a durable and credible justice system.

A Sefer Torah written in memory of Golani Reconnaissance fighters who fell at the Beaufort and in later battles was brought to the fortress in southern Lebanon, where soldiers read from it this week, 44 years after the bloody 1982 battle for the mountain.

The return carried added significance after IDF troops recaptured the Beaufort ridge in late May, 26 years after Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon. Golani Reconnaissance soldiers again reached the fortress and raised the Israeli and Golani flags there as part of a broader operation targeting Hezbollah infrastructure across the Beaufort and Wadi Saluki areas.

The Torah was written years after the original battle as an enduring memorial to members of the Golani Reconnaissance cohorts who were killed over the years, among them Maj. Giora “Guni” Harnik and Brig. Gen. Erez Gerstein. It was completed in 2020 and has since been kept at a Shul in Hoshaya in northern Israel.

Harnik, the former commander of the reconnaissance unit, returned to the force after the First Lebanon War broke out in June 1982. After commander Moshe Kaplinsky was seriously wounded, Harnik took command of the troops advancing toward the northern section of the fortress. His armored personnel carrier overturned on the way, but he continued on foot, reorganized the force and led the assault.

Harnik and several other Golani fighters were killed as the troops battled through fortified positions and trenches before completing the capture of the Beaufort. Forty-four years later, with Israeli soldiers once again positioned on the mountain, the memorial Torah was carried back to the site and opened for a Torah reading.

Following Monday’s report by the Washington Post on President Trump’s secret three plane switch in Turkey amid an Iranian assassination threat, video has surfaced that appears to show the Turkish catering truck described in the report, which was used to transfer Trump from the older Air Force One to a smaller military aircraft in Turkey last month.

Video Credit: John Hudson/WaPo

According to the Post’s reporting, Trump was publicly seen boarding the older Air Force One jumbo jet in full view of television cameras before leaving Turkey, instead of hsing the new Qatari gifted plane. Minutes later, he and several aides reportedly exited through a door on the opposite side of the aircraft and were driven by an airport catering truck normally used to load food and supplies, to a nearby Air Force C-32A, a much smaller modified Boeing 757, and transferred onto that aircraft instead.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the C-32A separately via external stairs in an effort to make the flight appear routine. Meanwhile, per the report, members of the White House press corps and some staff boarded the “decoy” Air Force One believing Trump was traveling with them, and were instructed to close their window shades before takeoff.

The Washington Post credited this great plane tracker account with an import detail in our exclusive tonight. Sharing credit where it's due: https://t.co/A5J6ltf8qZ

— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) August 11, 2026

The two aircraft landed minutes apart at RAF Mildenhall in Britain. Trump was then transferred back onto the original Air Force One before appearing on camera descending its external stairs, maintaining the public appearance that he’d been aboard that plane the entire flight.

The elaborate operation reportedly stemmed from a credible threat from Iran and allied groups to fire a missile at the presidential aircraft.

Scoop: Trump flew secretly from Turkey on an alternate military aircraft unbeknownst to journalists and some White House staff members who believed they were on the same plane as the president, The Post has learned. w/ @DanLamothe @abtran & @joyceslee https://t.co/CZqvHnfi44

— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) August 10, 2026

President Donald Trump said Monday that the U.S. Navy has cleared mines from the Strait of Hormuz and now maintains “100%” control of the critical waterway, while also escalating his demands that Iran pay reparations. The latest comments add another layer of tension to an already dangerous standoff between Washington and Tehran.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump asserted that American forces now exercise complete control over the strait. “It’s open now,” he said, while emphasizing that the United States was “the only one that has control of the Strait of Hormuz right now.”

Trump characterized the American military presence as a “steel wall,” arguing that occasional Iranian efforts to lay mines have not undermined U.S. control. “They will, on occasion, drop a mine, and we find the mine,” he said. The United States has maintained a naval blockade of Iranian ports since mid-April.

Iranian officials, however, have maintained that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed unless Washington meets a series of Iranian demands, including ending its naval blockade. Tehran has also said that its discussions with Oman regarding shipping arrangements would not necessarily result in a complete reopening of the waterway.

Trump escalated the dispute over compensation in a Truth Social post early Tuesday, saying Iran’s demand for reimbursement for war-related damage had given him “an interesting idea.” He argued that Tehran should instead compensate the United States for Americans killed or wounded in roadside bombings and other attacks allegedly connected to Iran, as well as for Iranian protesters whom he said had been killed by the Iranian regime over the past five decades.

The president’s reparations demand has created another obstacle after Iran announced its own requirements Saturday for reopening the strategic waterway. Before the conflict, the Strait of Hormuz carried approximately one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies, making continued disruption a major concern for global energy markets.

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Saturday that the strait would remain closed until Washington lifts its naval blockade and sanctions, removes American forces from the region, provides war reparations and unfreezes Iranian assets. The council also demanded an end to U.S. attacks against Iran’s regional allies.

Trump has indicated that he may allow Iran’s worsening economic conditions to increase pressure on Tehran rather than immediately pursue additional military action.

Iranian officials pushed back Tuesday against Washington’s economic pressure campaign. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei responded to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s characterization of U.S. sanctions as “suffocating” Iran.

Baqaei argued that Washington turns to sanctions when diplomatic efforts fail and intensifies them when they do not produce the desired results. He described the approach as having become less a “policy” than a “compulsive addiction.”

The continuing deadlock reflects two sharply different positions. Washington views its naval deployment as a lasting guarantee of access through the waterway, while Tehran regards the American military presence as the principal barrier to restoring normal shipping. Iran has repeatedly said it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz while the United States continues its blockade of Iranian ports.

The disruption to energy supplies remains a major concern for financial markets. Tanker traffic through the strait continues to operate at reduced levels, according to Lloyd Chan, senior currency analyst at MUFG Bank in Singapore, who also noted that Brent crude prices remain well above levels seen before the conflict.

Chan said further flare-ups remain possible but added that a wider regional war is still not considered the most likely outcome.

Oil prices surged Monday as tensions and rhetoric intensified, reversing a short-lived decline from the previous week. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery rose about 5% to settle near $82.13 per barrel, while Brent crude gained roughly the same amount to reach about $87.72. Oil prices were modestly higher in Asian trading Tuesday.

With Washington and Tehran continuing to disagree over control of the Strait of Hormuz, military deployments, sanctions and financial compensation, the strategic waterway remains at the center of an increasingly tense confrontation that could continue to weigh on global energy markets.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday announced a sweeping proposal to overhaul a decades-old food policy that has allowed manufacturers to introduce certain new ingredients without direct federal oversight. The Trump administration has also submitted what officials describe as the federal government’s first proposed definition of ultra-processed foods for final review, Kennedy said.

“Parents should not need a chemistry degree to understand what their kids are eating,” Kennedy said during an event in Washington, where he again emphasized his longstanding criticism of the typical American diet and its connection to obesity and chronic disease.

“Nearly 60% of the American diet is made up of ultra-processed foods for our kids … and more than 70% of American adults are obese or overweight,” he said. “We cannot spend our way out of a chronic disease epidemic while ignoring the things that are making Americans sick. Food is the most powerful weapon that we have in our arsenal.”

Kennedy said the Food and Drug Administration lacks a precise count of the ingredients currently used throughout the nation’s food supply, estimating the total could range from 4,000 to 12,000. He pointed to a 1958 law enacted by Congress that permits manufacturers to use substances considered “generally recognized as safe,” commonly known as GRAS.

Under the GRAS system, companies historically have not been required to conduct extensive safety studies on familiar substances such as salt, vinegar and flour. Kennedy said the policy was intended to provide a limited exemption but gradually evolved into a loophole that allowed companies to independently determine whether newer substances were safe.

“Industry hijacked the loophole and drove a convoy of chemical trucks through it straight into the American food supply,” Kennedy said. “The FDA was left with a major blind spot, and administration after administration allowed that system to persist. And Congress has not fixed it either.”

Under the proposed regulation, food manufacturers would be required to notify the FDA when they determine that substances qualify for GRAS status. The agency would also broaden its publicly accessible database of GRAS notifications. For ingredients already being used in food products, manufacturers would receive a timeline for providing the FDA with information about their existing applications.

FDA officials and public-health advocates also highlighted the administration’s proposed definition of ultra-processed foods during Monday’s events, describing it as a potentially significant development. The Department of Health and Human Services has not yet released the definition publicly, but said Monday that the proposal incorporates input from thousands of stakeholders, including consumer advocates, researchers and representatives of the food industry.

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health describes ultra-processed foods as products containing at least one ingredient that would not ordinarily be found in a household kitchen, including certain chemical preservatives, hydrogenated oils or artificial colors. Such products undergo processing “that leave the final products bearing almost no resemblance to the original ingredients.”

“The agency continues to operate with a lack of comprehensive knowledge of the substances present in the food supply,” acting FDA Commissioner Kyle Diamantas said Monday.

Diamantas “strongly” urged “all stakeholders” to participate in the public-comment process for the proposal, which was released Monday morning. The FDA will accept public comments for 120 days.

The Consumer Brands Association, a trade organization representing the U.S. consumer packaged-goods industry, said Monday that it has significant concerns about the federal government’s effort to establish a definition for ultra-processed foods. The group warned that the policy could raise costs for consumers and create additional confusion.

“America’s packaged food supply is safe and has been a staple in American households for decades,” Consumer Brands Association Executive Vice President Rhonda Bentz said in a statement. “That’s something that a guidance document crafted without credible experts cannot change. Any so-called definition that captures 80% of the nation’s food supply while picking winners and losers is fundamentally flawed, not based on sound science and politically motivated.”

Consumer Brands is also part of Americans for Ingredient Transparency, a coalition advocating for federal legislation that would create nationwide standards governing ingredient-safety regulations, including rules concerning substances classified as generally recognized as safe.

During Monday’s event, Kennedy urged Congress “to give FDA the additional tools it needs to keep pace with the changing food supply” and called for expanded federal oversight of food ingredients.

“AFIT supports meaningful, science-based modernization of the GRAS program and efforts to strengthen consumer confidence in the safety and transparency of our food supply,” AFIT senior adviser Patrice Onwuka said in a statement. “The most durable way to achieve those goals is through bipartisan Congressional action that establishes a transparent, nationally uniform framework for food ingredient oversight.”

AFIT cited a recent analysis from the Policy Navigation Group estimating that grocery prices could rise by 12% if states continue developing separate ingredient regulations rather than adopting a national standard. The coalition also said federal legislation aimed at increasing food transparency has bipartisan backing.

“In attendance today we have left-wing groups who are in bitter disagreement with us on other issues but are joining arms on these initiatives today,” HHS senior adviser Calley Means said Monday. “All of us agree there is a unique political and cultural moment where we can change the incentives of our food system and improve transparency.”

BOGOTÁ, Colombia. At least 111 people have been killed and 87 injured after a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, causing buildings to collapse, homes to be destroyed and residents to become trapped beneath rubble, officials said.

President Abelardo de la Espriella declared a national disaster as emergency crews responded to widespread destruction reported across several cities and communities.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was centered about 5 kilometers east of San José del Palmar, Colombia.

Some of the most severe damage was reported in Cali and Pereira. Officials said dozens of people were killed in the departments surrounding the two cities as rescue teams searched damaged buildings for survivors.

At least 61 buildings have collapsed, while more than 1,600 homes have been damaged or destroyed, according to the president. Health centers, community facilities and roads were also among the infrastructure damaged by the quake.

In Cali, at least 20 buildings collapsed, according to the city’s mayor. Rescue workers were conducting an operation at one damaged building where at least 15 people were believed to be trapped.

Authorities in the department of Chocó also reported injuries and “severe damage” to buildings in Quibdó, the department’s capital.

The earthquake also disrupted air travel, with seven airports suspending operations in Armenia, Cali, Manizales, Pereira, Quibdó, Buenaventura and Cartago.

There were no immediate reports of collapsed buildings in Bogotá, officials said.

The earthquake, which struck Monday morning, was the strongest recorded in Colombia in a decade, according to the Colombian Geological Survey. The shaking was felt throughout much of Colombia as well as in neighboring Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama.

In a video posted on social media, the Colombian president said he was traveling to Bogotá to “focus on addressing the emergency facing our country”. He also convened a unified command post to coordinate the government’s response in affected areas, including the region known as the Coffee-Growers’ Axis.

The United States said it was closely watching the situation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration is “closely monitoring” the earthquake and stands “ready” to support the people of Colombia.

WILLIAMSBURG — The Satmar Rebbe, Rav Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, strongly condemned the campaign of “attacks” against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during his major annual Drasha marking the yahrzeit of the Satmar Rebbe, Reb Yoel Teitelbaum Zatzal, on Sunday.

Speaking to one of the largest annual gatherings of the Satmar community, the Rebbe warned that rhetoric directed against NYC Mayor Mamdani by members of the Jewish community violates the traditional Torah approach to relations with government and risks provoking hostility toward Jews.

“Recently, we have witnessed a terrible provocation against the nations by heimishe Yidden — through the incitement against the Mayor of New York City,” the Rebbe said in his speech.

The Satmar Rebbe with NYC Mayor Mamdani.

Citing the Navi Yirmiyahu’s instruction to the Jewish people to seek the peace of the city in which they live and to Daven on its behalf, the Rebbe said Frum Jews must conduct themselves according to the Torah’s guidance for Jewish life in Galus.

“We must remember that we are in Galus,” the Rebbe said. “The Navi Yirmiyahu instructed the Yidden: ‘Seek the peace of the city to which I have exiled you, and Daven to Hashem on its behalf.’ An observant Jew must follow the Torah’s path and accept the decree of exile”, the Rebbe added.

The Rebbe specifically condemned efforts to denounce Mayor Mamdani and brand him as an Antisemite.

He said: “To denounce the mayor and brand him an antisemite constitutes a true provocation against the nations (Hisgaarus Ba’umos)”, “As though the provocation against the nations taking place in Eretz Yisroel were not enough, they are now bringing it here to the United States as well.”

The Rebbe concluded by urging Jewish families to guard their homes against publications and messages influenced by “Zionist ideology.”

The Drasha was delivered on the 47th yahrzeit of the Satmar Rebbe, Reb Yoel Teitelbaum, who reestablished the Satmar community in the United States following the Holocaust and became one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the twentieth century. Opposition to Zionism and adherence to traditional Torah principles governing Jewish life in Galus were central foundations of his teachings.

Oil prices moved higher Monday as prospects for a near-term resolution to the confrontation between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz continued to fade.

Iran and Oman had recently suggested that the two sides were approaching an arrangement that could reopen the vital waterway to oil shipments and other commercial traffic. However, Tehran has presented an extensive set of conditions that it says Washington must satisfy before vessels can once again travel through the strait without restrictions. The demands have underscored Iran’s intention to retain the waterway as a bargaining tool. President Trump told Axios on Sunday that he expects Iran will ultimately yield as mounting economic pressure and inflation take their toll.

Oil Prices Move Higher

Brent crude, the international benchmark, gained about 1.5 percent, trading between $84 and $85 per barrel. The benchmark remains roughly 16 percent above its level immediately before the war began.

West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, also edged higher, climbing to slightly above $79 per barrel.

Markets continue to closely monitor the disruption affecting ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategically important passage between Iran and Oman that normally transports roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies. Traders are also watching activity by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen, which has sought to limit shipping through the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia has relied on that route as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.

Shipping Through Hormuz Remains Limited

Only a relatively small number of vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, with traffic continuing at a tiny fraction of normal levels. Maritime data firm Kpler estimates that approximately 12 ships a day have recently made the crossing. Before the war, the waterway handled an average of about 130 vessels each day.

Shipping through the Bab al-Mandab Strait has remained comparatively steady. Kpler recorded an average of just under 40 vessels per day from Friday through Sunday. Traffic has not experienced a major additional decline following Houthi threats against Saudi vessels in the area. However, shipping activity there had already fallen to its current level in 2023, when the Houthis began attacking commercial vessels in response to Israel’s war in Gaza.

The United Arab Emirates’ foreign ministry said Saturday that an Iranian strike had hit a tanker operated by the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company while the vessel was passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The company previously reported that at least 15 of its ships had come under attack in the waterway since the conflict began. Those incidents have resulted in one crew member being killed and 20 others injured.

Global Stocks Show Little Movement

S&P 500 futures indicated that U.S. stocks were headed for a largely unchanged opening Monday. The benchmark index finished Friday’s session at a new record high.

European markets were similarly subdued, with the Stoxx 600, which tracks major companies across the region, showing little movement.

Asian stocks were generally stronger despite the region’s heavy dependence on imported oil and natural gas. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained more than 2 percent, while South Korea’s KOSPI and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index each advanced by roughly 1 percent.

Gasoline Prices Edge Lower

The national average gasoline price slipped slightly Monday to approximately $4.01 per gallon, according to AAA. Although pump prices have fallen by around 10 cents over the past week, motorists are still paying about 35 percent more on average than they were before the war began.

Changes in gasoline prices typically lag movements in crude oil prices by several days rather than immediately matching them.

Diesel prices also declined modestly Monday, reaching an average of approximately $5.30 per gallon. Despite the recent decrease, diesel remains about 41 percent more expensive than it was at the beginning of the war.

One Arab country reportedly advised another to reach an agreement with Israel as a tactical move, use it to lull Israel into complacency and prepare in parallel for a larger military confrontation, according to reports published Monday by Kan News and Channel 12. The recommendation was reportedly to later violate the agreement when conditions were more favorable for a confrontation with Israel.

The contacts took place in recent months, according to the reports, but neither country can currently be identified because of Israeli censorship restrictions. Channel 12 reported that the information had been held by the military censor for months before publication was permitted. The identities and seniority of the officials involved also remain unclear.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir seized on the revelation to argue against relying on regional agreements. “Behind all these misconception-driven agreements are lies and deception. They are intended to lull us to sleep ahead of the next blow,” he said. Ben-Gvir added that Israel’s response to its enemies should be “force, determination and total victory — without agreements and without mercy.”

Eyal Tsir Cohen, a former head of the Mossad’s Tevel Division, which handles the agency’s international relationships, offered a more cautious warning. “Any agreement with a country in the region must take into account that its internal political reality is fragile,” he said, warning that Israel’s reliance on a neighboring government’s current interests could eventually “turn against you.”