The standoff that has played out between Jerusalem and London over recent months reached a calm this morning with a compromise deal: a diplomatic mission will remain in Jerusalem, and in return, Israeli diplomats will not be expelled from England.

The confrontation began with Britain’s recognition of a Palestinian state, followed by sanctions against businesses and individuals in Judea and Samaria and against political figures.

Following that decision, Israel’s Foreign Minister announced last month that, with the Prime Minister’s approval, he had decided to close the British Consulate in Jerusalem and expel all of the diplomats working there.

Britain’s response was not long in coming, with London recently announcing the expulsion of Israeli diplomats in response to the Israeli government’s moves.

This morning, however, the sides reached understandings to calm the ongoing dispute. The consulate in Jerusalem is indeed closing in its current form. The sign has already been removed and its consular status has been revoked. In practice, though, Israel is allowing the British to keep a reduced diplomatic mission at the site under a different name.

Of the consulate’s 27 staff members, 20 will leave Israel. Seven diplomats will stay and continue operating under the name UK Mission.

The compromise comes as part of the continuing dialogue between Jerusalem and London, aimed in part at preventing an escalation of British measures against Israel, including possible sanctions.

Semaglutide—the diabetes and weight-loss drug known by brand names like Ozempic and Wegovy—is continuing to show its potential to treat a wide range of other conditions.

While recent studies have revealed that these drugs may help stop opioid addiction, smoking, and even help people live longer, a new study published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association now also links semaglutide to a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

In the study, researchers at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine analyzed three years of electronic records of nearly one million Americans with type 2 diabetes. They compared patients using semaglutide programs—a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist—to those prescribed one of seven other anti-diabetic drugs, including metformin, dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i), and other GLP-1RAs (which mimic the effects of GLP-1s). Patients prescribed semaglutide had a 40% to 70% reduced risk of first-time Alzheimer’s diagnosis, compared to other antidiabetic medications.

“The result is what we expected,” Rong Xu, biomedical informatics professor at Case Western Reserve University and lead researcher on the study, tells Fortune. 

Given other studies that show semaglutide can help reduce inflammation in the body, prevent neuron damage, promote weight loss, control diabetes, and prevent cardiovascular disease—in addition to helping curb the urge to smoke and drink—Xu says the drug is already lowering risk factors for Alzheimer’s.

“If we can target these risk factors…semaglutide can be beneficial in preventing or slowing down Alzheimer’s disease symptoms or development,” Xu says.

Xu makes it clear that this study wasn’t meant to examine whether semaglutide lowers the risk for Alzheimer’s in people without diabetes.

“Diabetes itself is a risk factor [for Alzheimer’s],” she says. Because of that, Xu and her team wanted to see if people at heightened risk—those who have diabetes—would have better outcomes with semaglutide versus other diabetes medications.

Researchers can’t say that semaglutide does lower Alzheimer’s risk, only that there is a link. More research is needed.

But Xu is also optimistic for what these study findings might mean for people currently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She’d like to see if semaglutide could improve outcomes or have a therapeutic effect on those currently managing Alzheimer’s symptoms.

For more on Alzheimer’s:

• Why Barbara Corcoran of ‘Shark Tank’ ‘should’ve seen a psychologist’ while caring for mom with Alzheimer’s
• These 5 lifestyle changes improved brain function for those with early Alzheimer’s
• Belly fat tied to brain health in middle-aged adults at high risk of Alzheimer’s, study finds—but it’s worse for men

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

NEW YORK — Gold prices remained near their lowest level in more than two months Thursday as expectations of another Federal Reserve interest rate increase strengthened the U.S. dollar and reduced demand for the precious metal.

Gold traded near $4,110 an ounce after falling approximately 1.3% Wednesday, reaching its lowest level since early August. Prices recovered slightly in early Thursday trading but remained under pressure.

The decline followed the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September meeting, which indicated that most policymakers believed another interest rate increase could be necessary before the end of the year.

Investors were pricing in roughly a 20% probability of an October rate increase and a substantially greater likelihood of another hike by December.

Higher Interest Rates Pressure Gold

Gold typically struggles when interest rates rise because it does not generate interest or dividend income.

Higher yields on U.S. Treasury securities and other interest-bearing investments make those alternatives more attractive, encouraging some investors to shift money away from precious metals.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury has climbed to levels not seen in more than two decades, adding pressure to gold prices.

A stronger U.S. dollar has also weighed on demand. Because gold is priced internationally in dollars, a rising dollar makes the metal more expensive for buyers using other currencies.

Oil Prices Add to Inflation Concerns

Continued tensions in the Middle East have complicated the outlook for gold.

The U.S.-Iran conflict and disruptions affecting energy shipments have kept oil prices elevated, increasing concerns about persistent inflation.

Higher energy costs can raise transportation, manufacturing and consumer prices, potentially giving the Federal Reserve additional reasons to maintain restrictive monetary policy.

Although gold traditionally attracts investors during geopolitical uncertainty, higher interest rates and a stronger dollar have offset some of that safe-haven demand.

Central Bank Buying Offers Support

Purchases by central banks have helped cushion gold’s recent losses.

Central banks continue to hold gold as part of their international reserves, providing an important source of demand even as private investors reassess their exposure.

Analysts at ANZ have pointed to official-sector purchases as a factor supporting the market despite pressure from rising bond yields.

What It Means for Consumers and Investors

Lower gold prices could benefit consumers purchasing jewelry, coins or other precious-metal products.

However, investors holding physical gold, gold-backed exchange-traded funds or mining shares may face additional volatility if interest rates continue rising.

Meanwhile, higher yields on Treasury bills, certificates of deposit and money market investments offer savers alternatives that generate income without exposure to gold’s daily price fluctuations.

What Comes Next

Investors will closely monitor upcoming U.S. inflation figures, employment reports and Federal Reserve commentary for clues about the timing of another rate increase.

Oil prices, geopolitical developments and movements in the dollar will also remain important influences on gold.

For now, expectations of tighter monetary policy continue to weigh on the precious metal, even as geopolitical uncertainty and central bank purchases provide underlying support.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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BRUSSELS — The European Union is considering new restrictions on Chinese-made hybrid vehicles as automakers from China expand their presence in Europe, raising concerns about competition, factory jobs and the future of the region’s automotive industry.

The European Commission is preparing potential safeguard measures that could limit hybrid vehicle imports from China, according to a Bloomberg News report citing people familiar with the discussions.

The proposal would reportedly introduce a temporary tariff-rate quota, allowing a specified number of vehicles to enter Europe at existing tariff rates while imposing higher duties on imports exceeding that limit.

No final decision has been announced, and the restrictions remain under consideration.

Chinese Automakers Gain Ground

The potential restrictions follow the EU’s decision in October 2024 to impose additional tariffs on battery-electric vehicles manufactured in China.

Those measures did not extend to hybrid vehicles, which generally remain subject to the EU’s standard 10% automobile import duty.

Chinese manufacturers have increasingly focused on hybrid and plug-in hybrid models as they seek to expand sales in Europe.

Companies including BYD have gained attention by offering vehicles at competitive prices, putting pressure on established European manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Renault and Stellantis.

The rapid expansion has raised concerns among European policymakers about the ability of domestic manufacturers to compete while maintaining production and employment.

Trade Tensions Continue

The proposed restrictions could become another source of friction between Brussels and Beijing.

European officials have expressed concerns about China’s growing trade surplus with the EU, while Chinese authorities have criticized European trade barriers targeting their automotive industry.

The dispute extends beyond automobiles, with agricultural products and other manufactured goods also affected by trade tensions.

Any new restrictions would require careful consideration of potential Chinese retaliation, particularly against European manufacturers with significant business operations in China.

What It Means for Consumers

For European drivers, limiting Chinese hybrid imports could reduce the availability of lower-priced vehicles.

Chinese manufacturers have increased competition in Europe’s automotive market, particularly among consumers seeking more affordable alternatives to traditional gasoline-powered cars.

Higher import duties could raise vehicle prices or encourage manufacturers to absorb additional costs.

European automakers, meanwhile, could benefit from reduced pricing pressure and greater opportunities to protect domestic production.

The impact would depend on the final structure of any import restrictions and how automakers respond.

Chinese Manufacturers Expand European Production

Import limits may also accelerate Chinese investment in European manufacturing.

BYD has been developing production operations in Hungary, while other Chinese automakers are exploring ways to manufacture vehicles closer to European customers.

Vehicles manufactured within the EU would generally fall outside restrictions specifically targeting imports from China, although applicable trade and origin rules would still matter.

For European policymakers, this creates a difficult balance between protecting domestic manufacturers and attracting foreign investment that supports local employment.

Global Auto Competition Intensifies

The potential EU action reflects a broader shift toward trade protections in the global automotive industry.

The United States has also imposed substantial tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, limiting their competitiveness in the American market.

As major economies introduce new trade barriers, Chinese manufacturers may increasingly target emerging markets in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

For consumers, the central question is whether protecting domestic production will come at the expense of affordable vehicle choices.

For European manufacturers, the challenge remains competing with Chinese automakers that continue expanding their global reach.

The European Commission’s next steps will determine whether the proposed restrictions become another major turning point in international automotive trade.

JBizNews Desk | Brussels

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A major security failure involving sensitive components from an American-made F-35 stealth fighter has been traced to a UPS employee missing an email warning that the military equipment could not be transported through Hong Kong. The shipping mistake resulted in Chinese authorities obtaining components containing potentially sensitive stealth technology, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The shipment included an F-35 cockpit canopy and weapons-bay door coated with radar-absorbing material, technology designed to reduce the aircraft’s visibility to enemy radar systems. The components were being transported for repairs in the United States when shipping delays disrupted their planned journey.

The original transportation arrangements called for the shipment to travel through South Korea and Taiwan before reaching San Francisco. However, after delays complicated the delivery, the equipment was mistakenly rerouted through Hong Kong, despite American export-control restrictions prohibiting such transit.

According to the report, a UPS employee had received an email specifically warning that the sensitive military components could not pass through Hong Kong. The employee failed to notice the warning, allowing the shipment to be diverted into Chinese territory.

The incident has raised serious national security concerns because the F-35 is among the most advanced fighter jets in the American military arsenal. Its stealth capabilities depend heavily on specialized materials, coatings and design features intended to make the aircraft extremely difficult for enemy radar systems to detect.

Chinese access to the cockpit canopy and weapons-bay door could potentially provide military researchers with valuable information about American stealth technology. However, the extent to which Chinese authorities examined the components or obtained sensitive technical information remains unclear.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A senior Trump administration official has warned that countries participating in boycotts against Israel could face retaliatory American sanctions, escalating the dispute over restrictions on products from Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, cited Britain, France and Norway among countries pursuing measures restricting trade in settlement products.

Dhillon characterized those restrictions as part of the broader boycott movement against Israel and described them as a form of antisemitism.

“Any country participating in the boycott movement against Israel risks retaliatory sanctions or reciprocal sanctions as long as President Trump is in office,” she said.

Despite the warning, no formal sanctions policy has been announced, and the White House has not published a decision to impose economic penalties on those countries.

The remarks follow measures announced last month by Britain, France, Canada and additional European countries to restrict trade in products originating from Israeli settlements.

Britain also banned imports of settlement products, sharply worsening relations with Israel and prompting an Israeli decision to close the British consulate in eastern Yerushalayim.

Dhillon’s comments signal a tougher position toward countries advancing such restrictions, but previous reporting indicates disagreement within the administration over how to respond.

In September, administration officials reportedly drafted a strongly worded statement condemning Britain, France and Canada over the boycott measures.

That statement was ultimately shelved after failing to secure support from the White House and senior State Department officials.

Dhillon’s latest warning therefore raises the prospect of American retaliation, while leaving unresolved whether the administration will adopt concrete sanctions.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israeli military police launched another series of overnight operations targeting yeshiva bochurim classified as draft evaders, raiding homes in Dimona and Bat Yam early Thursday morning. However, despite multiple attempts, the forces reportedly failed to arrest a single bochur after protesters rushed to the locations and confronted the officers.

The dramatic overnight incidents come amid a growing wave of military enforcement against bnei yeshivos, with massive demonstrations planned for Thursday afternoon in Yerushalayim and the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.

According to Kikar HaShabbat, military police arrived at a residence on Netiv HaLamed-Heh Street in Dimona at approximately 1:00 a.m., attempting to arrest a yeshiva bochur.

When that operation failed, officers proceeded to another address on Molda Street, where they attempted to arrest two brothers, both Sephardic yeshiva students.

The attempted arrests triggered the activation of the “Tzeva Shachor” (Black Alert) emergency notification system, which alerts activists when military police arrive to arrest yeshiva bochurim.

Dozens of Gerrer Chassidim rushed to the scene, and the military police ultimately departed without making any arrests.

Following the withdrawal of the forces, those gathered broke into celebratory dancing.

The overnight operations continued in Bat Yam, where military police arrived at approximately 4:30 a.m. at the home of a bochur studying at Yeshivas HaMeyasher, headed by HaRav Benayahu Shmueli.

According to the report, this marked the third attempt to arrest the same bochur.

Once again, the Black Alert system was activated, bringing dozens of protesters to the location.

Confrontations erupted between the demonstrators and military police, and after approximately an hour, the forces withdrew without carrying out the arrest.

Following their departure, protesters celebrated with singing and dancing.

The latest incidents follow several arrests of yeshiva bochurim earlier this week.

On Wednesday, military police arrested Eliyahu Dovdah, a talmid of Yeshivas Orchos Meir in Yerushalayim, at his home in Be’er Sheva.

He was initially transferred to a detention facility at the IDF’s training base complex before being moved to Military Prison 10.

Following a military hearing, Dovdah was sentenced to 20 days in military prison.

Another bochur, a talmid of Yeshivas Chevron Knesses Yisrael who was arrested Tuesday in Eilat, was also sentenced Wednesday to 20 days in military prison.

Attorneys representing organizations assisting arrested bnei yeshivos are working to secure reductions in both sentences.

Meanwhile, the Peleg Yerushalmi is preparing for what organizers say will be one of its largest protest mobilizations in recent months.

HaGaon HaRav Azriel Auerbach, instructed followers to participate in major demonstrations Thursday at 4:00 p.m. in Yerushalayim and the Gush Dan region.

According to an announcement, the demonstrations were called in response to the arrests of yeshiva bochurim and kollel yungerleit by military authorities.

The committee sharply condemned the arrests, describing them as the imprisonment of Torah learners because of their dedication to limud haTorah.

Talmidim of HaRav Tzvi Friedman have also been instructed to participate in the protests.

With anger mounting over the continued military enforcement operations, organizers are anticipating particularly large crowds Thursday afternoon.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

The Pentagon has instructed US Central Command to complete preparations for a return to major combat operations against Iran, Axios reported Wednesday, citing US officials.

According to the report by Barak Ravid, the order was issued several days ago and carries no date for launching strikes. President Trump has not made a final decision.

US and Israeli sources told Axios that strikes could come before the US midterm elections, and possibly before Israel’s elections a week earlier. One Israeli official cautioned that the odds of action before the vote are low but not ruled out, and rise sharply after the midterms.

A renewed campaign would reportedly involve heavy bombing of Iranian energy, infrastructure and nuclear targets, carried out jointly with Israel, with the IDF taking part.

A White House official told Axios that all options remain available to the president and that the situation will be resolved “the easy way or the hard way.”

The report follows a Camp David meeting of Trump’s national security team on Friday and a Wednesday call between Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, their second in days. Talks with Tehran remain stalled, with Qatari mediators still awaiting Iran’s answer to a US counterproposal.

Two Israeli officials told Axios the Iranian regime is desperate and may strike first.

LOS ANGELES — David Ellison and his family invested nearly $17 billion of their own money in the takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, becoming the largest individual financial backers of a deal valued at approximately $111 billion.

According to public filings cited in reports on the transaction, the Ellison family purchased an estimated 1.4 billion shares at $12 each, representing an investment of roughly $16.8 billion.

David Ellison, son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, is chairman and CEO of the combined entertainment company, Skydance Corp.

The merger brings Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery together, combining major television networks, Hollywood studios and streaming platforms under one corporate structure.

The company’s entertainment properties include HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS and Food Network, alongside Paramount+ and HBO Max.

The combined business is expected to generate approximately $70 billion in annual revenue, giving it substantial influence across television, film, streaming and advertising.

Billions in Outside Investment

The Ellison family’s contribution formed part of a broader $47 billion equity financing package.

Other investors included RedBird Capital Partners, LionTree and sovereign investment funds associated with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. The three Gulf funds reportedly contributed approximately $24 billion combined.

Despite their substantial financial commitments, the foreign investors received nonvoting shares.

Voting control remains with the Ellison family and RedBird, allowing David Ellison to lead the company’s strategic direction.

Larry Ellison also personally guaranteed $40.4 billion in equity financing during the takeover process, reinforcing the family’s financial commitment to completing the transaction.

What the Merger Means for Consumers

For American households, the most immediate questions concern streaming subscriptions and entertainment costs.

With Paramount+ and HBO Max under the same corporate ownership, the company has opportunities to introduce subscription bundles, consolidate technology and reduce overlapping expenses.

Such changes could eventually influence monthly subscription prices, available programming and how consumers access movies and television shows.

However, potential pricing or service changes should not be treated as confirmed until the company announces specific plans.

The merger also strengthens the company’s position against Netflix, Disney and Amazon, which continue competing aggressively for streaming subscribers and advertising revenue.

Jobs and Cost Savings Under Scrutiny

The combination also raises questions about employment and operating expenses.

Major entertainment mergers often involve consolidating departments, reducing duplicated operations and restructuring business units to improve profitability.

Investors will be watching how management handles integration costs, financial obligations and potential workforce changes.

As part of an agreement with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, David Ellison committed to maintaining the Warner Bros. and Paramount studio lots for at least five years, offering some stability for jobs associated with those facilities.

A High-Stakes Hollywood Investment

The acquisition represents one of the largest personal financial commitments to a major entertainment takeover.

For David Ellison, completing the transaction is only the beginning. The challenge now is turning an enormous collection of television networks, film studios and streaming businesses into a profitable, competitive entertainment company.

Success could strengthen the company’s ability to produce content, attract advertisers and compete with technology-driven streaming platforms.

Failure could leave investors facing substantial financial pressure from the costs of the acquisition and integration.

For viewers, the long-term consequences may appear in subscription bills, programming choices and streaming packages.

For the Ellison family, nearly $17 billion of personal investment makes the outcome especially significant.

JBizNews Desk | Los Angeles

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Attacks on two Saudi Arabian airports, including the main international airport in the capital, Riyadh, killed three people and injured 36 this week, Saudi aviation authorities said Wednesday, as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels widened their campaign against the kingdom.

King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport in the country’s southwest were hit on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation. Both strikes caused some damage to the airports. The Houthis claimed responsibility for both attacks.

The strike on Abha killed two women who lived in Saudi Arabia, one from Morocco and one from Algeria, and injured 28 others. The attack on the Riyadh airport killed a Sudanese man and injured eight people: five Saudi citizens, two Egyptians and a Pakistani resident.

It was the second time this week the Houthis claimed to have targeted Riyadh’s main airport. A day earlier, Saudi authorities said at least three people were wounded in attacks on the airports in Jazan and Najran, two cities near the Yemeni border. In September, a large fire broke out in a fuel storage area at the Riyadh airport.

Saudi Arabia and its allies hit back quickly. Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen, said its forces shot down a ballistic missile north of Riyadh and destroyed the launcher used in the attack on the capital in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, while it was being prepared for another strike. The coalition said it destroyed 82 Houthi military targets in response to the attacks.

In plain terms, a long-running civil war inside Yemen is now spilling directly into Saudi Arabia’s biggest cities, and the Houthis are aiming at places where ordinary travelers and workers gather. The Houthis are fighting Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen and are aligned with Iran, which remains in a conflict with the United States. The group also fired missiles and drones at the airport in Aden, the seat of Yemen’s government, on Wednesday, with no casualties reported.

The attacks matter far beyond the region because of oil. Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s largest oil exporters, and Saudi Aramco, the state-controlled oil giant, has itself come under Houthi attack in recent weeks. Every strike on Saudi soil raises the risk that oil facilities, ports or shipping routes could be hit next, and traders price that risk into the cost of every barrel.

That risk showed up in markets this week. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, settled at $100.20 a barrel on Wednesday. Analysts said attacks in the Middle East kept Brent from falling as far as U.S. crude, even as governments agreed to speed up the release of emergency oil stockpiles. Shipping through the nearby Strait of Hormuz has also faced at least nine attacks so far in October.

For American households, the connection runs straight to the gas pump. The national average for regular gasoline was $4.41 a gallon at the start of October, according to AAA, about $1.25 more than a year ago. Diesel, which powers the trucks that deliver groceries and goods, topped $6 a gallon nationally for the first time in September. As long as fighting threatens Gulf oil supplies, it will be hard for those prices to fall much.

The attacks also raise concerns for travel and business. Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport is a major hub for international flights and for the growing number of foreign companies and workers in the kingdom. Airlines and travelers will be watching closely to see whether the strikes disrupt flight schedules or lead to new safety warnings.

For now, Saudi Arabia is relying on its air defenses to intercept incoming missiles and drones, and on strikes inside Yemen to destroy launch sites before they can be used again. Whether that is enough to stop the attacks, or whether the fighting pulls the kingdom deeper into the wider conflict with Iran, will shape oil markets and fuel prices in the weeks ahead.

JBizNews Desk | Riyadh

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was booed, heckled and denounced as a “traitor” and “sellout” Wednesday night by anti-Israel demonstrators during a memorial marking the third anniversary of the October 7 Hamas massacre — an extraordinary scene that saw the mayor confronted by Hamas supporters who believe his already antisemitic rhetoric does not go far enough.

The confrontation unfolded at Manhattan’s Union Square, where Mamdani attended a candlelight vigil alongside former City Comptroller Brad Lander, a despicable self-hating Jew.

Anti-Israel demonstrators who had marched from City Hall descended on the gathering, shouting insults at the mayor and disrupting the commemoration.

“You coward!” protesters shouted.

“Zohran, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” others chanted.

Demonstrators had earlier gathered outside City Hall, accusing Mamdani of betraying the Palestinian cause. Some protesters displayed Hamas and Hezbollah flags during the demonstrations.

The remarkable spectacle came just hours after Mamdani issued a disgusting statement commemorating October 7 — a statement that devoted just three sentences to the Hamas massacre before shifting into several lengthy paragraphs attacking Israel with baseless packs of lies

Mamdani acknowledged the murder of more than 1,100 people and the kidnapping of 251 hostages during the October 7 attack.

But the mayor quickly pivoted to accusations of genocide, apartheid and war crimes against Israel, along with criticism of American military assistance to the Jewish state.

“The suffering did not begin nor end that day,” Mamdani wrote.

The statement drew criticism from Jewish leaders who questioned why the mayor chose the anniversary of the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust to devote most of his remarks to condemning Israel.

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt pointed out that Mamdani’s statement did not once use the word “Jews,” despite commemorating a massacre in which Jewish civilians were deliberately targeted.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also criticized the statement for shifting attention away from the victims of October 7.

The controversy took another turn when New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who endorsed Mamdani, expressed outrage over the treatment he received from demonstrators.

Hochul’s condemnation of the disruption raised questions about her continued political support for a mayor whose statements about Israel have repeatedly generated controversy within New York’s Jewish community.

The governor had endorsed Mamdani despite longstanding concerns from Jewish leaders over his rhetoric and positions on Israel.

Those concerns include Mamdani’s past statements linking the NYPD to the Israeli military.

In a widely circulated 2023 remark, Mamdani said that “when people feel the boot of the NYPD on their necks, they should remember that it was laced by the IDF”.

The remark has been cited by critics as an example of Mamdani’s willingness to inject anti-Israel accusations into domestic American issues.

Mamdani, like most antisemites, has claimed that he opposes antisemitism and is committed to protecting Jewish New Yorkers, while continuing to level severe accusations against Israel.

Wednesday night’s confrontation highlighted the increasingly complicated political position of the mayor, who has faced criticism from Jewish organizations over his rhetoric while simultaneously drawing anger from anti-Israel activists demanding even more aggressive positions.

For many Jewish New Yorkers, however, the central concern was not the political embarrassment suffered by Mamdani, but the fact that an October 7 memorial was disrupted by demonstrators directing their anger at the mayor.

The vigil was intended to honor the victims of the Hamas massacre and provide a place for remembrance three years after the atrocities.

Instead, participants witnessed a confrontation involving protesters shouting accusations, waving terrorist flags and turning the solemn gathering into a political battleground.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Three of the biggest players in artificial intelligence are lining up tens of billions of dollars in private loans to pay for computer chips, a sign that the AI building boom has grown too expensive for company cash and ordinary bond sales to cover on their own.

Broadcom is working to arrange more than $50 billion in financing for the custom AI chip it is developing with OpenAI. Oracle is in talks with Apollo Global Management and Goldman Sachs to fund a large chip purchase. And SpaceX is seeking about $40 billion to buy chips from Nvidia. The Broadcom and Oracle talks were first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, while the SpaceX plan was first reported by the Financial Times. All three deals are at an early stage, and any of them could change in size or fall apart.

In plain terms, these companies want to buy enormous numbers of AI chips now and pay for them over time, much the way a family takes out a mortgage instead of paying cash for a house. The difference is the scale: each deal is worth more than the entire yearly economy of many small countries.

Broadcom’s financing would help pay for the chip it designs with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. Apollo and Blackstone are among the lenders in talks to take part. The money could cover several gigawatts of computing capacity, enough to power some of the largest data centers ever built, and the deal could close as early as the end of this year. OpenAI and Broadcom have already announced plans for a custom chip system totaling 10 gigawatts, to be rolled out from the second half of 2026 through the end of 2029.

Oracle’s deal would work a little differently. Investors would likely fund a separate company that buys the chips, and Oracle would then rent them over time. That setup lets Oracle use the chips without piling more debt onto its own books as it competes with bigger, cash-rich rivals such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Oracle has already said it expects to raise $45 billion to $50 billion this year through a mix of debt and stock to build out its cloud business.

SpaceX’s plan calls for about $10 billion in bank loans and $30 billion in investment-grade debt, the kind sold to large institutional investors seeking steady returns. Apollo is expected to lead the deal, and bond giant PIMCO is among the investors looking at it. SpaceX, which absorbed Elon Musk’s AI company xAI earlier this year, runs large AI data centers in Memphis, Tenn., and has said it is working toward $100 billion in yearly recurring revenue by the end of 2026.

The common thread is a shift in who is paying for AI. For the past two years, tech giants mostly used their own profits and sold hundreds of billions of dollars in public bonds to fund data centers. Now the biggest buyers are turning to private lenders, the investment firms that make large loans directly to companies instead of selling bonds on the open market. Firms like Apollo, Blackstone and Goldman Sachs are quickly becoming central players in financing the AI race. Nvidia teamed up with six of these firms in August to create programs aimed at drawing more than $500 billion in outside money into AI infrastructure.

The problem these deals solve is simple. Demand for AI computing is growing faster than companies can build, and the chips are expensive and scarce. Companies that wait to save up cash risk falling behind. Borrowing lets them buy now and pay later out of the revenue the chips are expected to bring in.

The risk is just as simple. If AI revenue grows more slowly than expected, a wider group of lenders will be left holding the bag. And the timing is tough: the interest rate on the 10-year U.S. Treasury hit its highest level since 2002 on Wednesday, which pushes up borrowing costs for everyone, including these companies.

For everyday Americans, the effects are indirect but real. Many pension funds, insurance companies and retirement plans invest with private lenders like Apollo and Blackstone, so their returns are increasingly tied to how the AI boom plays out. And the giant tech stocks at the center of this spending make up a large share of the index funds inside millions of 401(k) accounts.

For now, the message from Wall Street is that the money is there. The question investors will be watching is whether the profits from AI arrive fast enough to pay it back.

JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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Most Federal Reserve officials believe they will need to raise interest rates again before the end of the year, but they gave no clear signal on whether that move will come this month or in December, according to minutes of the central bank’s September meeting released Wednesday.

At that Sept. 15-16 meeting, the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 3.75% to 4%, its first hike in more than three years. The vote was 12-0, and the minutes show that every official taking part supported the move.

Looking ahead, the minutes said “most participants assessed that another increase” in the Fed’s key rate “would likely be appropriate by year end.” But officials stressed that they approach each meeting with an open mind and that future decisions will depend on incoming data. In plain terms, the Fed is leaning toward one more hike but is not committing to a date.

The Fed has two meetings left this year: Oct. 27-28 and December. Investors had priced in about a 22% chance of a hike at the October meeting heading into the minutes, down from roughly 51% a week earlier, after softer-than-expected inflation and jobs data and cautious comments from several Fed leaders. New York Fed President John Williams said last week there was “no need for urgency,” and Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson also called for studying more data before acting.

The reason for the Fed’s worry is simple: prices are still rising too fast. Fed staff estimated that inflation, as measured by the Fed’s preferred gauge, rose to 3.8% in August, nearly double the central bank’s 2% target. Excluding food and energy, it held at 3.4%. Officials said they had “not seen sufficient progress” on lowering inflation in recent months, and Fed staff do not expect it to return to 2% until 2029.

The minutes pointed to three main sources of pressure. First, the Middle East conflict has pushed up prices for crude oil, gasoline and diesel. Second, the artificial intelligence building boom is driving up costs, from technology-related consumer goods to materials and wages for skilled workers. Third, earlier tariff increases are still working through the economy, though their effect is fading. Many officials warned that the longer energy prices stay high, the greater the risk those costs spread to other parts of the economy.

Officials also raised a deeper concern. After more than five years of inflation above 2%, some worried that Americans and businesses could start to expect high inflation as normal, which can make it harder to bring down. Many officials said a higher interest rate path would act as insurance against inflation staying stubbornly high.

For everyday Americans, higher Fed rates mean higher borrowing costs. Credit card rates, car loans, home equity lines and small business loans all tend to rise when the Fed hikes. The minutes noted that the housing market in particular is feeling the squeeze, with mortgage rates still elevated. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate stood at 7.28% as of Oct. 1, according to Freddie Mac, up from 6.34% a year ago.

The minutes also flagged a growing divide among households. Officials said stock market gains have helped support spending, particularly among higher-income families. But several noted that low- and moderate-income households are under strain, with higher energy prices taking a bigger bite out of their paychecks.

The broader economy, however, remains strong. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1% in July and August, and officials described economic growth as solid, powered by business spending on AI and steady consumer spending. Several said the scale and speed of the AI buildout “had continued to surprise to the upside.” That strength is part of why the Fed believes it can raise rates without causing a sharp jump in unemployment.

The Fed’s main tool here is its benchmark rate. Raising it makes money more expensive to borrow, which slows spending and is meant to ease pressure on prices over time. Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh has said the September hike would support a “timelier return” of inflation to the 2% goal.

The next test comes at the Oct. 27-28 meeting. Before then, officials will see fresh readings on inflation, jobs and consumer spending. If those numbers run hot, the October meeting could bring a second hike. If they cool, the Fed is likely to wait until December.

JBizNews Desk | Washington

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

OpenAI published AI-generated full or partial solutions Tuesday to more than 370 outstanding mathematical problems, including some that have long been considered grand challenges in the field. 

The volume of results stunned many mathematicians, while the way OpenAI has gone about tackling the problems and publishing the solutions divided the field. Some said they were enthusiastic about the results, seeing huge new areas for mathematicians to explore. Others said the approach OpenAI and other AI companies have taken to solving mathematical problems constitutes an assault on mathematics as a human academic discipline.

OpenAI said it achieved the results using an unreleased internal AI model. It said that on average the model took about three hours of computing time to arrive at each solution.

The massive cache of new solutions includes full or partial results for many of the problems mathematicians have considered the most important to the field. The results come weeks after OpenAI said it had used an unreleased internal model to solve the Navier-Stokes equations, one of the seven Millennium Prize problems for which the Clay Mathematics Institute offers a $1 million award. In the most recent batch of results, OpenAI said it had made progress on three other Millennium Prize problems but had not fully solved them.

AI companies have been targeting mathematical problems as a way of showcasing the capabilities of their models. AI researchers have also said that training their AI models on difficult math problems may help them learn many skills that generalize to other domains in the real world. For instance, it may help teach the models logical reasoning skills as well as how to be persistent in the face of difficult problems. It may also teach the models to do well in domains such as physics or economics that involve a lot of mathematics—although so far, it is unclear exactly how a model’s mathematical capabilities may generalize to domains, such as law or business strategy, which involve logical reasoning, but do not have objectively verifiable correct solutions.

Meanwhile, some of the traits learned in tackling very difficult mathematical problems—such as persistence—may increase safety risks. In recent “rogue AI” incidents, AI agents went to extreme lengths to achieve results in an evaluation, including taking unauthorized and illegal actions. Faced with a seemingly impossible challenge, a human might simply give up rather than resort to these kinds of unauthorized steps.

Dan Litt, a professor of mathematician at the University of Toronto, told Fortune he was excited about OpenAI’s results. “My view is that this is great for mathematics,” he said, adding that there were several solutions that OpenAI published that impacted problems he was interested in and was eager to understand the solutions OpenAI’s AI model found. “I think that it’s great to have new solutions to questions that I and others are interested in.”

Litt cautioned, however, that he is worried about the effect the solutions may have on the field of mathematics, especially if a perception that AI has “solved math” leads funding organizations to withdraw support for mathematical research or discouraged promising young mathematicians from entering the profession. “It’s important that society reaffirms support for human mathematical expertise if we want to get anything out of the progress on these problems that AI has made.”

Showing the work

When OpenAI published its Navier-Stokes solution, two mathematicians, who had also been working on a solution to the problem using AI tools, including OpenAI’s, accused the company of either intentionally or inadvertently feeding their work in progress to its AI model, helping point it in the direction of the solution. OpenAI denied this was the case, saying it did not feed its model the two mathematicians’s work and that the model could not have picked up any clues about their research from its training data because the cutoff for that data preceded the date on which the two mathematicians had begun using OpenAI’s Codex AI product to work on Navier-Stokes.

In response to the latest results, Tristan Buckmaster at New York University, one of the mathematicians involved in the earlier controversy, told the New York Times that it remained unclear whether mathematicians using OpenAI’s models had inadvertently helped point the company’s internal AI system toward the solutions it found. “There’s likely to be a bunch of results where they take someone’s work and then take it to completion,” he told the Times. Given the number of results being released simultaneously, he said “I don’t think they’ve done their sort of due diligence at all” to ensure the AI model had not plagiarized anyone’s work.

Last month, following criticism from mathematicians in the wake of its Navier-Stokes solution, OpenAI said it was forming an independent advisory group on mathematics and artificial intelligence hosted at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. 

Late last month, the group released a set of recommendations for the publication of AI-generated mathematical proofs. The recommendations included that AI-generated proofs should be published following the conventions of a traditional mathematical research paper, so that human mathematicians could more easily scrutinize and learn from the results. It also recommended that for each solution, an AI company should make public the name of the model used, the prompts used, the model’s “chain of thought” (or an output of its reasoning steps), the time it took the model to arrive at the solution, and an approximation of how much that computing time cost. It said that the company should also disclose how it decided to have the AI try to solve that particular problem and, if many results were published at once, that the company should publish a report detailing why those problems were targeted and how many other problems of comparable difficulty the model tried and failed to solve.

OpenAI published the latest mathematical solutions to GitHub, the code repository site. It followed some, but not all, of the steps the advisory group had recommended. The group published a statement on Tuesday saying “we reaffirm our published recommendations on responsible release.” It said its discussions with OpenAI had been “constructive” but that “ultimately it is up to the mathematical community to assess the extent to which our recommendations were followed successfully, and whether there are others we should suggest.”

The company released a blog post on Tuesday in which it said it had “drawn on” the advisory group’s advice about how to publish the solutions. “For future releases, we are committed to further improving the quality of the papers via the citations, mathematical exposition, and presentation of the results for better understanding,” OpenAI said. It said it was sharing formalizations of the proofs for many of the problems—these are versions of the proof that can be verified by specialized computer software—and would share more of these as it obtained them. It also said that for 10 problems it was publishing summaries of its model’s reasoning, estimates of the compute spent, and statistics about the number of attempted problems.

Litt, who was not a member of the advisory group, told Fortune he approved of most aspects of how OpenAI published the solutions. Having them on GitHub made them easily accessible for other mathematicians to study, he said, and he credited the company for not making too much of any particular advance in a blog post or marketing material intended for a non-technical audience. He also said he thought OpenAI lacked the capability to publish all the results in research papers that would meet rigorous academic standards, both because the AI models don’t write mathematical exposition well enough and struggle to cite prior mathematical work, and because OpenAI doesn’t employ enough mathematicians with expertise in enough areas to understand all the proofs the AI models can generate.

While some mathematicians have complained that AI-generated proofs, such as OpenAI’s Navier-Stokes solutions, are difficult to follow, making it hard for mathematicians to build on the results, Litt said he thought such concerns were “overstated.” He said mathematical writing was often difficult to follow any way. “I think to extract understanding from [the OpenAI results], there will be a huge amount of human labor involved, but it’s not so different from the labor that mathematicians have been doing forever,” he said.

OpenAI said it wanted its solutions “to push the frontier of human knowledge and enable further progress in mathematics.” It said it would be funding a series of workshops, conferences, and programs around helping mathematicians understand the results its AI system had generated.

The end of ‘Math 1.0’

The independent math advisory group said in its statement on OpenAI’s release that “the future of mathematical research cannot consist only of understanding results produced by AI labs. Mathematicians must be able to formulate their own questions, develop their own approaches, and explore directions that have not been selected as examples of an AI system’s capabilities. Equitable access to powerful research tools and adequate computational resources are essential to that freedom.”

Terence Tao, a UCLA mathematics professor considered among the world’s greatest living mathematicians, has been increasingly critical of the way AI companies have gone after mathematical problems, arguing that it is the process of arriving at solutions—not so much the solutions themselves—that advances mathematical understanding, and that by solving so many interesting problems so quickly, AI companies are discouraging students from becoming mathematicians, robbing the field of its future.

In a social media post on Mastodon Tuesday, Tao reiterated these criticisms. “Problems are being solved autonomously by AI prompters who have no interest in the broader field itself once their initial target is ‘solved,’ and do not understand the AI output well enough to answer questions on the result, give talks, or otherwise interact with the rest of the field,” he wrote. “Many fewer seminars, workshops, collaborations, or other activities are being generated from these results compared to traditional breakthroughs; few people are joining the community around the field as a consequence; and promising open directions are now being withheld from the public in fear that this will cause their own research to be ‘scooped.’”

Tao said that OpenAI’s mass publication of math solutions marked the end of “Math 1.0,” in which finding solutions to unsolved conjectures and problems, even if those solutions could not easily be understood at first, served as the field’s engine. He said there would now need to be a “Math 2.0” era that “will need to decenter the role of raw problem solving and value mathematical progress more holistically—for instance by elevating the role of exposition, but also that of community building and opening up new directions of study.”

Litt said he agreed with Tao that the field must change. He said OpenAI’s publication of such a massive set of solutions would help get the entire field “on the same page and understanding that we need to be a little bit radical about rethinking” things such as what kinds of contributions it rewards and how it trains PhD. students. And while Tao has generally sounded wistful about this transition, Litt said he was “optimistic” about it.

“One of my collaborators told me, I feel like I’ve been crawling my entire life, and now I can fly,” Litt said of the advent of AI as a tool for solving mathematical problems. “It’s like incredible what what we can do now.” He said he thought AI would enable human mathematicians to engage in much more “open-ended exploration” than was possible before. “We should expect mathematicians to be like way more productive in the future,” he said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

Israel is reportedly identifying a growing willingness within Hamas to resume fighting, while voices inside Gaza are pushing for an offensive on the assumption that another confrontation with Israel is inevitable.

The assessment comes alongside accounts from Gaza sources describing preparations on the ground, including the transfer of weapons from underground facilities into hospitals and schools.

Sources also reported that dozens of Hamas operatives have been moving around Nasser Hospital.

Additional accounts published Wednesday described Hamas activity at Shifa, Al-Aqsa Martyrs and Nasser hospitals. According to those accounts, operatives are exploiting crowded conditions and using infrastructure beneath the hospital compounds.

Other testimony described Hamas command-and-control centers in areas still under the terrorist organization’s control, armed men continuing to patrol streets and the operation of Hamas’s internal security apparatus.

The accounts also claimed that Hamas maintains detention and interrogation facilities inside hospital compounds and beneath them.

The reported shift follows a markedly different assessment published on September 17, when Hamas was said to have decided against responding to Israel’s elimination of two brigade commanders within days of each other.

At the time, the organization reportedly feared that retaliation would give the IDF grounds to continue the war. A survey cited in that report found that fewer than 10% of participating Gazans supported an armed confrontation.

The latest assessment suggests that some inside Gaza now favor initiating an attack rather than waiting for fighting to resume.

Concerns about armed activity at Nasser Hospital have also been raised by Doctors Without Borders.

The medical organization said it suspended some operations at the hospital in January after staff witnessed masked armed men, intimidation and arbitrary arrests of patients. It also reported an incident involving a suspected transfer of weapons.

Doctors Without Borders resumed its principal activities at Nasser in April, saying conditions had improved and measures had been taken to restrict weapons and armed personnel from entering the compound.

The latest reports raise renewed concerns about Hamas’s use of civilian institutions as the prospect of another round of fighting grows.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

“OUTRAGEOUS”: 9/11 Families Pack NYC Court as Saudi Arabia Fights to Avoid Trial Over Alleged Aid to Hijackers

Nearly 100 relatives of those murdered on Sept. 11, 2001, packed a federal appeals courtroom in lower Manhattan on Wednesday as Saudi Arabia sought to overturn a ruling that could finally force the kingdom to face trial over allegations that its government agents helped support some of the Al Qaeda hijackers.

The emotional hearing before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unfolded only blocks from Ground Zero, with families who have spent more than two decades pursuing the case watching as lawyers for Saudi Arabia again argued that the kingdom should be shielded from the lawsuit.

“It’s outrageous, after seeing the evidence of the direct link between the Saudi government agents and hijackers, for them to continue denying their culpability,” said Terry Strada, whose husband, Tom, was killed in the attacks.

“We’re hoping to finally see justice,” added Lisa Friedman, whose husband, Andrew, was killed on Sept. 11.

The dispute before the appeals court stems from a major August 2025 ruling by U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels, who rejected Saudi Arabia’s renewed attempt to have the case dismissed. Daniels found that the families had produced “reasonable evidence” concerning the alleged roles of Saudi nationals Omar al-Bayoumi and Fahad al-Thumairy in assisting two of the hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, after they arrived in the United States.

The ruling did not find Saudi Arabia liable for the attacks. Rather, it rejected the kingdom’s effort to end the case before trial, concluding that the evidence was sufficient for the litigation to move forward. Saudi Arabia appealed that decision, setting up Wednesday’s hearing.

The kingdom has repeatedly and emphatically denied any involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks, maintaining that it neither knew about the plot beforehand nor supported Al Qaeda. Saudi Arabia has also argued that it is protected from the lawsuit by the doctrine of foreign sovereign immunity.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has never supported its enemy, Al Qaeda, against its ally, the United States,” Gregory Rapawy, an attorney representing Saudi Arabia, told the court during the roughly 90-minute hearing.

The families contend that Congress substantially changed the legal landscape in 2016 with passage of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, known as JASTA, which created an exception to sovereign immunity for certain claims involving acts of international terrorism committed on American soil.

Gavin Simpson, an attorney representing the Sept. 11 families, argued that Saudi Arabia had “failed” to establish that it was entitled to be dismissed from the litigation.

When Simpson completed his presentation, several family members sitting in the gallery broke into applause, prompting Circuit Judge William Nardini to intervene.

“Please, this is not a moment for such things,” Nardini told the courtroom.

The long-running litigation, first brought more than two decades ago, focuses heavily on al-Bayoumi, a Saudi national who was living in California before the attacks. The families allege that he was connected to Saudi intelligence and provided critical assistance to al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar, two of the eventual hijackers.

Among other things, al-Bayoumi helped the men find housing in the San Diego area after their arrival in California and assisted them as they settled into the United States. Plaintiffs have also pointed to his contacts with Saudi officials and other evidence they say undermines his longstanding contention that his encounter with the future hijackers was innocent.

More recent evidence has intensified scrutiny of al-Bayoumi. A video recovered by British authorities shows him filming the U.S. Capitol in 1999 while discussing aspects of the building and its surroundings. Lawyers for the families have argued that the footage shows al-Bayoumi “casing” the Capitol, while Saudi Arabia has disputed that characterization and maintained that the video was innocuous.

Investigators also recovered a drawing of an airplane in one of al-Bayoumi’s notebooks, accompanied by mathematical calculations. The families have cited expert analysis they say indicates that the calculations related to the trajectory of an aircraft toward a target. Saudi lawyers have offered a far more benign explanation, arguing that the sketch was connected to al-Bayoumi helping his son with schoolwork.

The FBI has also described al-Bayoumi in declassified material as an operative of Saudi intelligence, while al-Bayoumi has denied being a spy. He is believed to be living in Saudi Arabia.

Thumairy, the other Saudi national at the center of the lower court ruling, served as an imam at the King Fahad Mosque in Culver City, California, and was also employed by the Saudi government. The families allege that he and al-Bayoumi formed part of a network that assisted the hijackers after they reached the United States.

Daniels wrote in his 2025 decision that Saudi Arabia had failed to provide sufficient evidence overcoming the inferences raised by the plaintiffs regarding the two men’s activities. His ruling cleared a major legal hurdle that had kept the case from reaching trial for years.

Fifteen of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi nationals. Saudi Arabia has consistently denied that its government had any role in planning or facilitating the attacks, which killed 2,977 people at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and aboard the four hijacked aircraft.

Outside the courthouse Wednesday, the frustration among families extended beyond Riyadh. Several relatives called on President Trump to become personally involved and pressure Saudi Arabia to address the allegations against it.

“We’re all fed up. And it’s time that the president defended us,” said Aaron Sand, whose father, Eric, was killed when the Twin Towers were attacked.

“President Trump, I love ya, but you are not doing enough,” Sand added. “You have to prioritize the family members who were harmed, who lost loved ones because of this nation that claims to be an ally but is very much proving the opposite.”

Brett Eagleson, president of 9/11 Justice, said families were exhausted by the years they have spent traveling to hearings and fighting to keep the case alive.

“Every single one of us is sick and tired of coming here and having to miss birthdays, anniversaries, special events, being with family, but we have to be in Washington. We have to be in New York City. We have to be fighting the Saudi government, who refuses to accept accountability,” Eagleson said.

“Saudi Arabia has spent years trying to avoid answering for what its own agents did in the lead-up to 9/11,” Eagleson added. “A federal judge has already reviewed the evidence and ruled that this case belongs in an American courtroom. We are asking the Second Circuit to uphold that decision so the families who have waited a quarter of a century can finally have their day in court.”

The families are also continuing to seek government records they believe could shed additional light on Saudi contacts and activities in the period before the attacks. Some relatives have accused the U.S. government of keeping relevant material secret even as the country marked the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11 last month.

Victims’ relatives traveled from across the country for Wednesday’s arguments. Among them was Steve Milam, who flew to New York from Dallas. His brother, U.S. Army Major Ron Milam, was killed in the attack on the Pentagon.

“I’m just hoping the judges will see that it is necessary in order to help the families in their healing process that Saudi Arabia be held liable for the tragic loss of our loved ones,” Milam said.

The three-judge panel — Nardini and Circuit Judges Guido Calabresi and Eunice Lee — questioned lawyers for both sides but gave no clear indication of how it would rule. The court is expected to issue its decision in writing at a later date.

{Matzav.com}

More than 75 retired American generals, admirals and senior national security officials rejected accusations Wednesday that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, arguing that the IDF’s conduct does not meet the legal definition of genocide and pointing to extensive Israeli efforts to reduce civilian casualties, according to an open letter released by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.

The signatories include former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Philip Breedlove, former U.S. Strategic Command commander Gen. Kevin Chilton and former Marine Corps commandant Gen. James Amos.

The retired military leaders argued that civilian casualties, regardless of their scale, do not by themselves establish the specific intent required under international law to prove genocide.

They pointed to Israeli evacuation warnings, humanitarian corridors, tactical pauses and decisions to cancel strikes because civilians were present as evidence inconsistent with an effort to deliberately destroy Gaza’s civilian population.

Many of the signatories previously commanded American forces fighting terrorist organizations that embedded personnel and weapons among civilians, and they warned that distorted interpretations of the laws of war could eventually undermine America’s own ability to fight enemies using similar tactics.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Samsung Electronics expects to report the biggest quarterly profit in its history, more than $80 billion, as the race to build artificial intelligence data centers drives up demand and prices for its memory chips.

In preliminary results filed Thursday, the South Korean company estimated third-quarter operating profit of 107.4 trillion won, or about $80 billion. That is up 782.5% from 12.17 trillion won a year earlier, nearly nine times as much. Revenue jumped about 127% to roughly 195 trillion won, also a company record.

This is the first time Samsung has topped 100 trillion won in operating profit in a single quarter, a first for any South Korean company. The figure alone is more than double the 43.6 trillion won Samsung earned in all of 2025. It also beat Wall Street’s expectations of about 106.1 trillion won, based on the average forecast of 21 analysts tracked by LSEG.

In plain terms, Samsung kept more than 55 cents of operating profit for every dollar of sales, up from about 52 cents the quarter before. For a company that makes everything from smartphones to televisions, that is an extraordinary margin, and it comes almost entirely from chips.

The engine behind the surge is memory. AI systems need enormous amounts of fast memory to work, and Samsung is the world’s largest maker of memory chips. That includes high-bandwidth memory, a specialized type stacked in layers and placed right next to AI processors from companies like Nvidia. Demand has been so strong that prices for standard memory chips used in phones and computers have also kept climbing.

Profit rose about 20% from the second quarter, when Samsung posted what was then a record of about 89.4 trillion won. This marks the fourth straight quarter of record results. Samsung did not break down results by business in Thursday’s filing. A full report, including figures for its chip, phone and display divisions, is expected around Oct. 29.

For American consumers, the boom has a downside. When memory chips get more expensive, so do the products that use them. Smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles and even cars rely on memory, and rising chip costs can push up prices or squeeze features in lower-priced models. The same AI spending that is making Samsung’s profits soar is competing with everyday gadgets for a limited supply of chips.

The results also matter for Wall Street. Samsung is a key supplier to American tech giants racing to build AI data centers, and its numbers are one of the clearest signals of how much money is still flowing into that buildout. This week alone, Oracle, Broadcom and SpaceX were reported to be lining up tens of billions of dollars in loans to buy AI chips. As long as that spending continues, memory makers like Samsung and its South Korean rival SK hynix stand to benefit.

Not everyone is convinced the run can last. Samsung shares fell for two straight sessions heading into Thursday’s report, and the analyst profit estimate had been trimmed by 7.7% since late August. South Korea’s main stock index also dropped 2% on Wednesday as rising oil prices and a stronger dollar hit emerging markets. Investors are watching whether memory prices keep rising, and whether Samsung can win more orders for its newest high-bandwidth chips against stiff competition.

There is also a cost to the boom for Samsung itself. Under a wage agreement reached in May, pay for chip workers is tied to operating profit, which means larger bonus payments as profits climb. Analysts have said those bonus costs held down reported profit in the second quarter.

The figures released Thursday are estimates, and final results could shift slightly when Samsung publishes its full report later this month. But the message is already clear: the AI boom has turned memory chips, once a low-margin commodity, into one of the most profitable businesses in the world.

JBizNews Desk | Seoul

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

A well-known chassidishe photographer has decided to disconnect from WhatsApp and switch to a kosher phone after hearing a powerful message from the Sanzer Rebbe during Hakafos Shniyos.

Photographer Moshe Goldstein said he made the decision after hearing his Rebbe speak about the use of technological devices and the impact they can have on a person’s life and home.

Goldstein explained that the decision was not an easy one, particularly because WhatsApp has become an important part of his livelihood as a professional photographer.

The Sanzer Rebbe promised a happier life to those willing to give up the technological tools he had addressed. The message struck Goldstein deeply enough that he decided to act on it immediately despite the professional inconvenience involved.

“It’s difficult for me,” Goldstein admitted, explaining that WhatsApp is a tool he regularly uses for his parnassah.

Asked how he would now send photographs to members of the media and others who need his work, Goldstein said he intends to return to a simpler method: email.

“You can live calmly with email, and also see that there are children at home,” he said.

Despite the challenges the move may create in his photography work, Goldstein said he is determined to follow through with the decision he made after hearing the Sanzer Rebbe’s words.

{Matzav.com}

Microsoft’s Windows operating system, the longstanding flagship of the company’s software empire, is getting a revamp for the AI age.

The company unveiled a variety of updates to Windows on Wednesday, including incorporating AI agents and other AI tools directly into the PC software, as Microsoft seeks to ensure that its products remain at the center of a rapidly changing tech industry.

Speaking at San Francisco’s Dogpatch Studios, Chief Executive Satya Nadella said Windows is becoming a “hybrid intelligence” system, meaning there will be capabilities for cloud-based AI, as well as AI that runs locally through products like the coding tool GitHub.

“Just having the [AI] model doesn’t do much for anything,” Nadella said, explaining that Microsoft is bringing together local AI, AI-powered software, and devices built natively for AI, such as the new Surface Laptop Ultra that the company unveiled at the event. “Some of the things you’ve been using all click together.”

Microsoft was one of the first Big Tech companies to recognize the importance of generative AI, investing $13 billion in OpenAI and partnering with the company years ago. But the alliance between the two companies weakened, and Microsoft is now trying to find its lane in a crowded AI landscape as competitors like Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic take the lead developing the most advanced large language models, and Meta carves out a space with its Muse personal AI assistant.

A big part of Microsoft’s plans involves integrating the reimagined Copilot AI app seamlessly into Windows. This means having Copilot run tasks without having to access the cloud when those tasks don’t need heavy compute, according to Jacob Andreou, the head of Copilot. A user, for example, will be able to have Copilot autonomously pull all of the files they need to file taxes from various parts of their laptop and do so without accessing the cloud, making it cheaper and faster.

“Copilot now truly understands your PC,” he said. “It’s copilot built natively for Windows.”

While Microsoft operates one of the industry’s largest cloud computing services, the company is betting that having a strong presence throughout the “tech stack” could give it an edge as AI transforms the way businesses operate. Local AI has become a popular way for coders and other users to experience the technology because it can be cheaper and safer than running AI on the cloud.

Microsoft is also tying its updates to its new Surface Laptop Ultra, a high-end device built for developers and creators. A user on the Ultra, the company showed, can play video games while editing a video and running AI workloads. Nadella was joined on stage by Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang. The new Surface Laptop Ultra uses Nvidia’s RTX Spark “superchip,” which Huang called “a beast” of a product.

The Ultra will cost $2,599, while the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box that works alongside the Ultra will cost $5,999. The laptop will be available beginning October 16, and the box in November.

Nadella has recently refocused Microsoft on the basics after initially also pursuing general consumer AI with Copilot. Microsoft aims to own the enterprise side of AI workflows and cloud computing. Wednesday’s event was an extension of presentations it made at its June Build conference. During the conference, it introduced an AI wearable badge-like device and a cube-like device with a voice-activated screen, though it hasn’t yet provided an update.

Microsoft is reorienting its Copilot AI brand and its leading software for the AI era. It is also positioning its devices as the vehicle best suited to optimize customers’ workflows, without bogging down users with numerous Copilots. Microsoft received many initial user complaints about Copilot’s nonstop presence within the Windows OS.

The company’s redesigned Copilot app will now be a central interface through which customers can chat with AI bots, tap AI tools to help accomplish tasks, write code, and access a new Autopilot feature that brings agentic capabilities.

An Autopilot feature on the app will let users name their agent, assign it a role and a goal, and then set it loose on tasks such as project updates, tracking work decisions and deadlines, reminding colleagues when commitments are due, gathering prep materials, and reaching out to partners.

Microsoft is betting that this new “super app” will boost Copilot by connecting AI directly to its already lucrative business tools. As OpenAI and Anthropic push into enterprise offerings, Microsoft is racing to protect its turf and keep pace with customer expectations.

In July, the company said its Microsoft 365 Copilot had surpassed 30 million paid seats, with net seats added doubling quarter over quarter. Its shares have rebounded over the past six months on the strength of its cloud computing business, fueled by AI demand and Copilot growth. Its next quarterly earnings report is expected later this month.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

Chrysler is recalling more than 265,000 Ram cargo vans over an issue with the vehicles’ steering system, according to federal regulators.

About 265,512 Ram ProMaster vans with model years from 2022-2026 are affected by the recall, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in its recall notice.

The recall impacts various van models, including 44,391 Ram 1500 ProMasters, 147,204 Ram 2500 ProMasters and 72,043 Ram 3500 ProMasters with model years from 2022-2026, as well as 1,874 Ram 3500 EV ProMasters with model years from 2024-2026.

The defect can cause water to enter the vehicles’ electric power steering wiring harness, potentially damaging the wiring and causing drivers to lose power steering assistance.

Drivers may receive no warning before losing power steering assistance, according to the NHTSA.

The NHTSA warned that damage to the steering system can increase the risk of a crash.

Stellantis NV, the maker of the vans, is aware of one non-injury accident linked to the problem, Stellantis spokesperson Frank Matyok said in a statement to The Detroit News.

To resolve the issue, dealers will inspect and replace the wiring harness and electronic power steering gear, if needed, free of charge.

Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk are expected to be mailed out on November 17. Additional letters will be sent out once the final remedy is available.

Three years after the Oct. 7 massacre, the international activist network behind the Gaza flotilla joined by Greta Thunberg is turning its attention to Yehuda and Shomron, recruiting foreign activists to participate in the upcoming Palestinian olive harvest.

According to Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry, the Global Sumud Flotilla is currently recruiting participants from abroad to travel to Yehuda and Shomron, with the deadline for applications set for Oct. 7.

Those accepted into the program are expected to remain in the area for at least two weeks and undergo training in what organizers describe as “direct action,” along with political and media training.

Participants are also reportedly required to commit to continued political activism after returning to their home countries, indicating that the initiative is intended to extend beyond the olive harvest itself.

The recruitment effort follows the organization’s previous campaigns connected to Gaza, including the flotilla involving Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

The new initiative is one of several efforts underway to bring international activists to Yehuda and Shomron during the annual olive harvest. Various organizations have promoted programs offering what they describe as a “protective presence” alongside Palestinian farmers.

Israeli officials contend that the campaigns are also being used to develop an international network of activists who can participate in organized political actions and generate media attention surrounding confrontations in the area.

Diaspora Affairs Ministry Director-General Avi Cohen-Scali issued a warning over the recruitment effort, saying Israel would act against foreign activists who arrive as part of organized efforts to provoke confrontations or disturb public order.

“Israel will not serve as a playground for foreign anarchists,” Cohen-Scali said.

He said Israeli authorities would take action against anyone entering the country as part of an organized network whose purpose, in the ministry’s view, is to create provocations and disrupt order.

The olive harvest has repeatedly become a flashpoint in parts of Yehuda and Shomron, with Israeli and international activists accompanying Palestinian farmers in areas near Jewish communities and IDF positions. Israeli security forces are frequently deployed during the season amid concerns about confrontations involving Palestinians, Jewish residents and activists.

{Matzav.com}

Vice President JD Vance marked the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre on Wednesday with a brief message remembering the Jews and Americans murdered in the terrorist assault on Israel and invoking the traditional Jewish expression honoring the deceased.

Vance posted the message on his official X account Wednesday afternoon, three years after Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel, attacking communities, military installations and the Nova music festival.

“Three years ago over 1,000 Jews (including 49 Americans) were brutally murdered in Israel in one of the worst Islamic terrorist attacks of our lives. May their memory be a blessing.”

The message was notably focused exclusively on the victims of the Hamas attack. Vance did not use the anniversary statement to criticize Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza or to address Palestinian casualties.

The vice president’s statement came as Israel and Jewish communities around the world held memorial ceremonies for the victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, assault, in which Hamas-led terrorists murdered approximately 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages into Gaza. Memorial events in Israel began at 6:29 a.m., the time the attack began three years earlier.

Vance’s reference to the American victims highlighted the significant U.S. toll from the attack. Americans were among those murdered and kidnapped during the Hamas invasion, making Oct. 7 not only the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust but also a terrorist attack that directly claimed American lives.

The statement comes amid considerable attention to how American political leaders are marking the anniversary. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries condemned the Hamas massacre in his own statement Wednesday but also called the devastation in Gaza “reprehensible” and demanded a dramatic change in American policy that would include the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani went further, using his Oct. 7 statement to accuse the Israeli government of an “ongoing genocide” in Gaza and denounce what he called “occupation and apartheid.” Mamdani’s remarks drew criticism from several Democratic members of Congress as well as Jewish organizations and Republican officials.

Vance’s message also comes against the backdrop of an evolving relationship between the Trump administration and the Netanyahu government. In recent months, the vice president has emphasized that while Israel remains an important American partner, the United States will pursue its own interests and will not necessarily agree with the Israeli government on every issue.

“Israel has been an important partner when it comes to military technology, when it comes to intelligence sharing, but also sometimes the United States doesn’t always agree with Israel,” Vance said last month.

Vance has nevertheless consistently placed responsibility for the Gaza war’s origins on Hamas. Discussing the conflict in October 2025, he stressed that the fighting began with the terrorist assault on Israel and said the Trump administration remained focused on eliminating the terrorist threat while addressing humanitarian needs in Gaza.

His position on Oct. 7 itself has also remained consistent. On the first anniversary of the massacre in 2024, when he was President Trump’s running mate, Vance attended a memorial gathering on the National Mall in Washington and declared that the attack would not be forgotten.

“My friends, I know I speak for all of us and saying we will never forget October the 7th. We’re going to reject anti-Semitism in our schools, rejected in our foreign policy. And if we do this the right way, we’re going to reject it in the ballot box on November the 5th, 2024.”

At that same 2024 gathering, Vance said Israel had the right to defeat the terrorist organization responsible for the massacre.

“We want to give Israel the right and the ability to finish what Hamas started. Israel didn’t start this. Hamas did. But Israel is going to finish it.”

{Matzav.com}

Two-thirds of Republican candidates running in 62 competitive House and Senate races have publicly distanced themselves from President Trump on at least some issues as the midterm elections approach, according to a Reuters review published Wednesday.

The candidates have generally stopped short of rejecting Trump’s broader agenda, instead separating themselves from the president on specific issues such as war powers, economic policy and proposed beef imports.

Reuters also found that roughly a dozen candidates removed references to Trump from campaign materials, while some declined to appear at presidential events or avoided discussing whether they wanted his direct involvement in their campaigns.

The strategy reflects the difficult balance facing Republicans in closely divided districts, where candidates need strong turnout from Trump’s political base while also competing for independent voters.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Tesla will finally show off its long-delayed second-generation Roadster on Oct. 15, nearly nine years after it first unveiled the electric sports car and began taking $50,000 deposits from buyers who are still waiting for a car.

The event will be held outdoors in Waco, Texas. It was originally scheduled for Oct. 1, but Tesla pushed it back two weeks, citing a severe weather forecast for central Texas. The company said pricing, specifications and its long-term production plans are unchanged.

Tesla first revealed the Roadster as a surprise at the end of a truck event in November 2017. At the time, CEO Elon Musk promised a car that could go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 1.9 seconds, faster than any street-legal production car then on the market, with a range of 620 miles on a single charge. Production was originally targeted for 2020. That date came and went, followed by several more.

In plain terms, some customers handed Tesla $50,000 almost a decade ago for a car that does not yet exist, and they are about to find out whether the wait was worth it.

The deposits are not small. A standard reservation costs $50,000: a $5,000 payment by credit card, followed by a $45,000 wire transfer due within 10 days. Buyers who wanted a spot in the limited Founders Series paid $250,000 upfront. Tesla has never said how many people have reserved a Roadster or how much money it is holding in deposits. Last month, ahead of the reveal, the company reopened its reservation list on the same $50,000 terms.

For buyers, that money has effectively been an interest-free loan to Tesla. To put it in perspective, with short-term Treasury rates above 4% today, $50,000 parked in a high-yield savings account could earn roughly $2,000 a year in interest. Instead, deposit holders have been waiting with nothing but a place in line.

Tesla has not announced an official price. The base Roadster has long been expected to cost around $200,000, putting it in the same range as high-end sports cars from Porsche and Ferrari rather than Tesla’s everyday models like the Model 3 and Model Y. Production is expected to begin in 2027, but a reveal is not the same as a delivery date, and Tesla has not given buyers a firm timeline for when they will actually receive their cars.

The stakes go beyond one car. The Roadster has become a symbol of Tesla’s habit of announcing bold products and then missing deadlines. The Cybertruck arrived years late, and the Semi truck took far longer than first promised to reach customers. A strong showing on Oct. 15, with a production-ready car, firm specifications and a clear delivery schedule, would help repair that reputation. Another round of prototypes and promises would do the opposite.

Musk has hinted that the new Roadster will be more radical than earlier prototypes. He has talked for years about an optional “SpaceX package” that would use small rocket-style thrusters to boost acceleration and handling. Tesla’s teaser for the event carried the words “Go for launch,” and invitations sent to reservation holders point to a site near SpaceX’s rocket test facility in McGregor, Texas, just outside Waco. Whether those features make it into a car that people can actually buy is one of the biggest open questions.

The market has also changed since 2017. When the Roadster was first shown, a sub-2-second electric supercar sounded like science fiction. Today, several electric hypercars from China and Europe already post eye-popping acceleration numbers, and luxury brands like Ferrari are moving into electric sports cars. The Roadster will no longer have the field to itself.

For the deposit holders, the answer comes in one week. They will learn what the car looks like, what it can do, how much it costs and, most importantly, when they can finally drive one home.

JBizNews Desk | Austin

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

A former U.S. Postal Service employee who was caught on surveillance video shoving a 4-year-old boy to the pavement in Monsey has been sentenced to three years of probation, bringing an end to a case that sparked widespread outrage when the disturbing footage surfaced earlier this year.

Gabriel Stan, 39, of Stony Point, was also ordered to complete six weeks of anger-management classes, pay a $1,000 fine and stay away from the child following his conviction for endangering the welfare of a child.

The incident occurred on March 19 while Stan was working as a USPS mail carrier in the Town of Ramapo. Surveillance footage showed the young boy approaching Stan near his Postal Service vehicle before the mail carrier suddenly shoved him backward.

The force of the shove sent the child crashing onto the pavement, with his yarmulke flying off his head. The boy then got back up, retrieved his yarmulke and walked away.

The video quickly spread throughout Monsey and beyond, triggering anger over the apparently unprovoked encounter and prompting an immediate investigation by Ramapo Police.

Stan was arrested the following day and initially charged with attempted assault in the third degree and endangering the welfare of a child, both misdemeanors.

The case was ultimately resolved with Stan pleading guilty to endangering the welfare of a child. He will not serve jail time under the sentence imposed but will remain under probation supervision for three years.

The U.S. Postal Service said Stan is no longer employed by the agency. His employment was terminated following the incident.

The footage drew strong condemnation from elected officials when it became public. Ramapo Town Supervisor Michael Specht described what he saw as deeply disturbing.

“I have viewed the video depicting an incident involving a physical attack on a small child,” Specht said at the time. “The content of this video is very disturbing.”

Specht praised Ramapo Police for moving quickly in the case.

“Ramapo Police have treated this matter with extreme seriousness and have now arrested the suspect,” he said.

Assemblyman Aron Wieder also condemned the incident, calling it “appalling and deeply troubling.”

State Sen. Bill Weber said residents had contacted him after seeing the footage and expressed outrage over what happened.

“I’ve heard from constituents who are deeply alarmed by the assault of a young child in the @TownOfRamapo. I share their concern and outrage,” Weber said.

“He must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!” he added.

Stan’s sentence includes no-contact provisions protecting the child, along with the three years of probation, anger-management requirement and $1,000 fine.

Stocks and currencies in developing countries pulled back on Wednesday, ending a short winning streak as a flare-up in the Middle East pushed oil prices higher early in the day and the U.S. dollar strengthened.

MSCI’s index of emerging-market stocks fell 1%, only its second decline in five trading days. South Korea’s Kospi index dropped 2%, its worst day so far this month. A matching index that tracks developing-nation currencies slipped 0.1%, with oil-importing countries such as Hungary leading the retreat.

Here is the simple version. Emerging markets are fast-growing economies like South Korea, India, Brazil, South Africa and Hungary. Many of them buy most of their oil from abroad and pay for it in U.S. dollars. When oil prices rise and the dollar gets stronger at the same time, those countries get hit twice: they need more dollars to buy each barrel, and each dollar costs more in their own currency.

That pressure showed up quickly. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed toward $102 a barrel in morning trading after a fresh wave of attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz tied to the U.S.-Iran conflict. Prices later reversed after the International Energy Agency agreed to speed up the release of emergency fuel stockpiles, and Brent settled down 38 cents at $100.20. But by then the damage to emerging-market assets had been done.

The selloff also tracked a broader move in global bonds. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury hit its highest level since 2002 on Wednesday. When safe American government bonds pay more, investors have less reason to put money into riskier markets overseas, and money tends to flow back into dollars.

The pullback broke a strong run. On Monday, emerging-market stocks rose as much as 1.1%, their biggest gain in about two weeks, after softer-than-expected U.S. jobs data eased fears that the Federal Reserve would keep raising interest rates aggressively. On Tuesday, they rose again as oil slipped below $100 and bond yields eased. Brazilian assets also got a lift after a conservative sweep in the first round of the country’s presidential election, and South Africa’s rand gained 0.8% against the dollar after strong demand at a government bond sale.

The pattern has repeated for months. Each time oil climbs toward or above $100, emerging-market currencies and stocks stall, and countries that import most of their energy take the biggest hit. A weaker currency makes everything those countries buy from abroad more expensive, which pushes up inflation at home and makes it harder for their central banks to cut interest rates.

To fight back, several central banks have stepped into currency markets this year, using their reserves to buy their own currencies and slow the slide. That is the main tool they have in the short term. Over the longer run, the biggest relief would come from lower oil prices, which depend largely on whether shipping through the Strait of Hormuz keeps recovering.

For American investors, these moves matter more than they might think. Many retirement accounts and target-date funds hold a slice of emerging-market stocks for growth. South Korea alone is home to chipmaking giants such as Samsung, which sit at the center of the artificial intelligence boom. When those markets swing, so do the international funds inside millions of 401(k) plans.

There is also an upside for Americans when the dollar is strong. A stronger dollar makes foreign travel cheaper and helps hold down the cost of imported goods, from electronics to clothing, at a time when gasoline is still averaging well over $4 a gallon.

Not everyone on Wall Street sees the dollar’s strength lasting. BlackRock’s investment institute said in its latest weekly commentary that it expects the dollar to stay around current levels or weaken somewhat, and it remains overweight emerging-market stocks, meaning it holds more than a standard portfolio would. The firm said a stable or modestly weaker dollar would support that position.

What happens next likely hinges on three things: whether oil holds near $100, whether U.S. bond yields keep climbing, and what the Federal Reserve signals about further rate hikes. For now, emerging markets remain caught between strong long-term growth and short-term pressure from a war that keeps oil prices on edge.

JBizNews Desk | Wall Street

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

Three years after the Oct. 7 massacre, Yehuda Avidan, director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Religious Services, has offered a harrowing account of what unfolded behind the gates of the Shura military base, where hundreds of bodies were brought for identification following the Hamas-led attack.

In an extensive interview, Avidan described taking responsibility for the civilian victims within hours of the massacre, working virtually without sleep as bodies poured into Shura, confronting horrifying cases of mutilation and abuse, and participating in the extraordinary halachic effort required to identify victims and prevent women from being left as agunos.

Avidan, an Ashdod resident, said he learned early on the morning of Oct. 7 that something far beyond an ordinary terrorist attack was taking place.

“Because I don’t live in a chareidi neighborhood, the news reached me very quickly, already at 8:00 in the morning. A neighbor came to me and showed me pictures of the vehicle in Sderot, the jeep. When I saw the white pickup truck in Sderot, I told him, ‘My brother, we are in a world war.’ By the end of the holiday, I already knew that we were looking at hundreds of murdered people — while television was showing only 130.”

Under the legal structure in place at the time, responsibility for civilian fatalities belonged to the Interior Ministry. Avidan said that by the conclusion of the holiday, however, he understood that an entirely different system would be required to handle the scale of the catastrophe.

“The first two phone calls I made at the end of the Yom Tov were to Interior Minister Moshe Arbel and Religious Services Minister Michael Malchieli. I told Moshe Arbel, ‘My brother, forget it, you cannot handle these fatalities. This is my field. I am taking responsibility for all of it as though the government decision has already taken effect. Tell your people that I am taking responsibility for this issue.’ He told me, ‘Accepted. Thank you very much. I thank you. It is also absolutely the right thing.’ I put him on a conference call together with Malchieli, we agreed that I would receive responsibility, and from that moment, the rest is history.”

By 8:30 the following morning, Avidan was already holding a conference call with senior ministry officials and the country’s major chevros kaddisha. His instructions reflected the numbers he feared were coming.

“The next day at 8:30 a.m., I was already on a conference call with the entire senior leadership of my ministry and the large chevros kaddisha. I instructed each of them to dig 50 graves around the country and begin preparing. I was simply trying to understand how I was going to handle this thing, all based on personal intuition.”

Half an hour later, approximately 150 people — including Religious Services Ministry officials, religious council leaders and representatives of chevros kaddisha — joined an emergency Zoom meeting.

“At 9:00 in the morning, I scheduled a management meeting at the ministry with the minister and all the heads of the religious councils and chevros kaddisha — there were 150 of us on Zoom. There I made two very simple decisions: First — there are no rules, there are no regulations, do what needs to be done, don’t ask questions. When the accountant and legal adviser began asking questions, I told them: ‘There are no rules, there are no laws, do whatever needs to be done, you have my authorization. Whoever sues you — I will back you.’”

Avidan also decided that all civilian bodies requiring preparation for burial would initially be directed to a single location in Rishon LeZion because of the severe condition in which many victims were being recovered.

“At the same time, I made an immediate decision that I was activating one place in the country to receive all the bodies for preparation for burial — and that was Rishon LeZion, because I understood that the condition of the bodies was not good and kavod hameis required it. At 12:00 we went down to Shura, and from that moment my place of residence was Shura Camp and Rishon LeZion.”

When Avidan arrived at Shura, he found senior representatives of the police, military, Health Ministry and other agencies attempting to respond to a catastrophe on a scale none of the existing systems had been designed to handle.

“I arrived there as a relatively new director-general, only eight or nine months into the job. You come, and suddenly standing next to you are Deputy Commissioner Yoav Telem, Deputy Commissioner Shlomit Landes, Lahav 433 personnel. Suddenly you see deputy commissioners everywhere, the Health Ministry, the police, the army… They didn’t even know what the role of the Religious Services Ministry was.”

Within hours, Avidan said, it became clear that the overlapping responsibilities threatened to create chaos.

“By the afternoon, I already understood that it was beginning to become a mess, and I announced: ‘Gentlemen, according to the law, I am responsible for the identification. I am responsible for everything concerning the fatalities.’ From that moment, I took command and began coordinating the entire operation. The police were responsible for the identification, and we began working like machines.”

The identification of civilians posed challenges substantially different from those involving soldiers. The military had extensive identifying information readily available for its personnel, while civilian records were scattered among different government agencies and databases.

“Unlike the army, where identification can take half an hour because they have all the data, with us, among civilians — anyone who had not been in the army, his information did not come up. It took us a day or two to arrange the transfer of information between the agencies, and then things began moving.”

What followed were days and nights confronting scenes Avidan said remain seared into his memory: hundreds of victims, many burned beyond recognition, alongside evidence of horrific abuse inflicted during the massacre.

Among the most wrenching episodes was the case of a father and daughter whose fate remained uncertain. An instinct that something was wrong ultimately led authorities to reopen a grave, where investigators made an extraordinary discovery: the father and daughter had died together, still embracing one another.

The immense identification challenge also created grave halachic questions. In cases where a married man could not conclusively be identified, his wife could potentially remain an agunah, unable to remarry without sufficient evidence of her husband’s death.

To address those cases, a discreet halachic committee was established under the leadership of then-Rishon LeZion Rav Yitzchak Yosef. Working largely outside the public eye, the committee examined the most complicated identification cases and the evidence available in each one, seeking halachically valid grounds to establish deaths and release women from the status of agunah.

The work at Shura ultimately became one of the least visible but most painful fronts of the aftermath of Oct. 7. Behind the casualty figures were teams required to examine what remained after the massacre, establish identities, preserve kavod hameis, return victims to their families and confront unprecedented halachic questions — all while new bodies continued arriving.

{Matzav.com}

Iran has transferred approximately $200 million to Hezbollah for payments to Lebanese families displaced during the war with Israel, marking the terrorist organization’s first major aid distribution to its support base since the conflict began, Reuters reported Wednesday.

Hezbollah plans to distribute initial payments of approximately $3,000 to some 50,000 families, prioritizing residents of villages that were destroyed or remain inaccessible because of the fighting.

Getting the Iranian money into Lebanon has become considerably more difficult because of sanctions and an international crackdown on financial networks connected to Hezbollah.

Sources said intermediaries moving the latest $200 million charged fees of approximately 20%, roughly four times the normal rate, because of the increased risks associated with transferring Iranian money to Hezbollah.

The transfer comes as Hezbollah attempts to rebuild after suffering extensive losses in its war with Israel while continuing to provide payments to its fighters and families of terrorists killed in the fighting.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned Wednesday that Israel must remain constantly prepared for a surprise war, drawing a direct connection between the intelligence and readiness failures surrounding the Yom Kippur War and the October 7 massacre, according to the IDF.

Speaking during an exercise of the IDF’s new 38th Division, Zamir described the two events as “two painful shortcomings, two failures, with a connecting thread between them.”

“Reality is constantly sending us signals,” Zamir said, adding that the military has an obligation to identify those signals, listen to them and continually adjust its assumptions.

Zamir said the possibility of a surprise attack must remain a constant concern throughout the IDF rather than something considered only when intelligence indicates that an enemy is preparing for war.

The remarks came exactly three years after Hamas shattered Israel’s assumptions about Gaza by launching its massive surprise invasion of southern Israel.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is launching a broad federal initiative aimed at studying and assisting people who say they suffered serious injuries following vaccination, including a new National Institutes of Health clinic devoted to such patients and proposed changes intended to encourage doctors to report suspected vaccine side effects.

Kennedy traveled to the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, earlier this week for an unannounced visit in which he met with patients who believe they were injured by vaccines and unveiled elements of the new program, according to people familiar with the initiative.

The initiative represents one of Kennedy’s most significant moves yet on an issue he championed for years before becoming President Trump’s health secretary: his contention that Americans reporting serious health problems after vaccination have often been ignored or dismissed by the medical establishment.

A centerpiece of the effort is a new NIH clinic that will both study and provide care to patients with suspected vaccine injuries. Kennedy attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the clinic during his visit to the Bethesda campus.

The administration is also working on a new medical billing code that would allow physicians to be reimbursed for the time involved in filing reports of serious suspected vaccine reactions. The proposal is designed to increase reporting to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, known as VAERS, which is jointly administered by the CDC and FDA.

VAERS accepts reports of health problems occurring after vaccination, but a report by itself does not establish that a vaccine caused the condition. The system is intended to detect potential safety signals that can then be investigated using additional data and research.

Kennedy’s initiative is expected to extend beyond the new clinic. Federal officials have been examining ways to modernize the government’s vaccine-injury reporting and compensation systems, areas Kennedy has repeatedly argued are inadequate for people who believe they have suffered genuine vaccine-related injuries.

The federal government already recognizes that vaccines, like other medical products, can in rare cases cause serious adverse reactions. The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, created by Congress in 1986, provides a special legal mechanism through which people alleging injuries from certain vaccines can seek compensation without first bringing a conventional product-liability lawsuit against a vaccine manufacturer.

Under that program, claimants can receive compensation for medical expenses, lost earnings, pain and suffering and, in cases involving a vaccine-related death, payments to an estate. Some conditions appearing within specified periods after particular vaccines are listed on the government’s Vaccine Injury Table and receive a presumption of causation, while other claims require evidence establishing that the vaccine caused the injury.

Kennedy has been openly dissatisfied with how that system operates. In July 2025, he disclosed that he had assembled a team to examine major changes to the compensation program, saying the government needed to better serve people who have suffered legitimate vaccine injuries.

Those efforts have since generated a fierce debate within medicine and public health. Kennedy and his supporters argue that patients reporting debilitating symptoms after vaccination deserve serious investigation, medical care and a fair opportunity to obtain compensation. Medical organizations agree that genuine vaccine injuries should be identified and compensated but have strongly objected to proposals they say could presume causation for conditions where scientific evidence has not established a link.

That dispute became particularly intense this year over a petition seeking a dramatic expansion of the Vaccine Injury Table. Medical and infectious-disease organizations warned Kennedy in May that adding hundreds of conditions without adequate scientific evidence could overwhelm the compensation system and make it harder for patients with well-established vaccine injuries to receive timely assistance.

The new NIH effort could potentially address one of the central points of disagreement by placing greater emphasis on research intended to determine which reported conditions actually have a causal relationship with vaccination and which merely occurred afterward.

Kennedy’s latest move comes amid a much broader transformation of federal vaccine policy under his leadership. He has overhauled the CDC’s vaccine advisory structure and pursued significant changes to federal vaccination recommendations, actions that have triggered lawsuits and intense opposition from state officials and major medical organizations.

Kennedy’s critics argue that his approach risks undermining confidence in vaccines that have prevented enormous numbers of illnesses and deaths. His supporters counter that investigating possible adverse effects more aggressively should strengthen rather than weaken public confidence by demonstrating that federal health agencies take safety concerns seriously.

The controversy is particularly sensitive because establishing that an illness occurred after a vaccination is fundamentally different from demonstrating that the vaccine caused it. Serious medical events occur naturally in large populations, meaning researchers generally need controlled studies, epidemiological data and other evidence before determining whether a particular condition occurs more frequently among vaccinated people than would otherwise be expected.

Kennedy has nevertheless made clear that people who believe they have been injured will occupy a more prominent place in federal health policy. Speaking last month at a conference hosted by Children’s Health Defense, the organization he previously led, Kennedy pledged to continue fighting for people who report vaccine injuries and told attendees that they have a “strong and steadfast friend at the White House.”

The administration has not yet publicly released all of the new initiative’s details, including precisely how the NIH clinic will select patients, which vaccines and medical conditions will be studied, how large the research program will become, or how much federal funding will be devoted to it.

But the establishment of a dedicated NIH clinic, combined with efforts to pay physicians for reporting suspected adverse reactions and Kennedy’s continuing push to overhaul the compensation system, signals that vaccine injury is becoming a distinct research and policy priority within the nation’s health agencies.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli forces launched several brigade-level operations across Judea and Samaria on Wednesday targeting suspects accused of supporting the October 7 massacre, terrorism and incitement, as security forces marked three years since Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel, according to the IDF.

IDF and Shin Bet forces carried out warning interrogations and other operations against individuals identified by security officials as supporting terrorist activity.

The raids followed a separate operation launched to demolish monuments and memorials erected across Judea and Samaria in honor of terrorists.

Israeli forces have increasingly focused on incitement and public glorification of terrorism as security officials warn that online radicalization can rapidly translate into attacks carried out by individuals without formal organizational affiliations.

The operation was deliberately carried out on the anniversary of the Hamas massacre, which left approximately 1,200 people dead and resulted in 251 people being abducted into Gaza.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

MIAMI (VINnews) — For many French cooks, a kitchen without butter is hard to imagine. For Olivia Ostrow, it is the rule.

The Paris-born restaurateur, who appeared on Food Network’s “24 in 24: Last Chef Standing,” runs Maison Ostrow, a glatt kosher French-Mediterranean restaurant in South Florida. Because the menu is meat-based, dairy cannot be mixed into the dishes — a constraint that cuts against a cuisine built on butter, cream and cheese.

“Can you really make great French food without butter? Yes and no,” Ostrow told Fox News Digital.

Duck fat is one stand-in. Her kitchen has also developed its own nondairy versions of ingredients that would otherwise be off limits. She said the restaurant makes its own cheese and a butter alternative, and serves house-made baguettes with about seven versions of that spread, including truffle, spicy and Provençal. Some diners are surprised to learn it is not conventional butter.

Butter is not the hardest gap to close. Asked which dish is toughest to adapt, Ostrow said desserts. Her team built a stand-in for mascarpone for a tableside tiramisu and reworked steak au poivre, whose classic peppercorn sauce is usually creamy. Chefs also spend hours on sauces and dressings, including a dairy-free product meant to taste like blue cheese.

She said a dish does not go on the menu if it would not meet what a diner expects in a traditional French restaurant in Paris. The testing raises labor costs. “Yeah, my labor’s a little high because we work a little harder,” she said.

Ostrow opened her first glatt kosher restaurant about a month before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel. She said Jewish identity had long been central to her life, and that the aftermath strengthened her decision to treat the business as a public statement rather than retreat. “I did not feel that I needed to go into hiding,” she said. “I felt like I needed it to grow my business and make it even more of a statement.”

She is now looking beyond the original restaurant, with plans to expand the Maison Baguette sandwich concept and Ostrow Privé, a kosher fine-dining service for private jets and yachts. The company is also moving toward grab-and-go food at airports, she said.

By many measures, China is fast catching up with the U.S. in AI development. Moonshot’s Kimi K3—the world’s largest open-weight model—has approached the performance of America’s frontier systems. Analysts estimate the best Chinese models are now just four months behind the most sophisticated releases from OpenAI and Anthropic, compared to seven months at the start of the year.

Chinese models have gone from 1.2% of token traffic (a common way to calculate AI usage) in 2024 to more than half of the total by the summer of 2026.

 But the biggest threat to that next wave is not technology. It’s money. Between 2023 and 2026, venture funding into U.S. AI companies topped $380 billion; China’s start-ups received barely a tenth of that figure, according to Boston Consulting Group.

Funding the future

In the past, Chinese entrepreneurs looked to state guidance funds and venture capital backing, but policy-driven funds are known to prioritize later-stage startups while early-stage venture capital is only just recovering from a three-year fundraising drought.

There are three reasons why broader funding channels should be a priority for entrepreneurs in the AI economy.

First, inflation is taking hold inside the AI economy. CXMT, for example, has been raising memory prices for months and held firm even when Huawei, one of its largest customers, demanded relief.  

The war for AI talent is just as fierce: postings for AI-related roles surged roughly twelvefold year-on-year in early 2026. Algorithm engineers specializing in large language models command some of the highest pay packages of any technical role in China.

Founders must also outcompete deep-pocketed former employers and U.S. rivals. More than half of studies presented at the world’s top AI conference had lead authors based in China. China’s AI talent is known to be in demand worldwide.

Second, external funding is scarce. Venture investment in China totaled just $20 billion in the first quarter of 2026, against $267 billion in the U.S. China has raised impressive sums this year—assets under management for newly registered VC funds hit 154 billion yuan ($22.8 billion) in the first five monthes, already exceeding last year’s total—but that is still far below what US venture capital regularly deploys.

Meanwhile, China’s state banks, although directed to prioritize technology lending, are absorbing rising non-performing loans elsewhere on their books, which could lead to weaker overall credit supply.

Third, profitability will take a while to achieve. Chinese enterprise software firms primarily sell into the domestic market, which limits their revenue base. U.S. rivals have a head start: a global customer base, stronger brand recognition, and R&D budgets deep enough to fund everything from enterprise-grade cybersecurity to polished customer experience design.

To be sure, the next generation of AI ventures may not need vast amounts of capital to build applications on top of existing models or fill the gaps in the tech value chain.  Enterprise customers can also provide essential development funding.

Entrepreneurs must nevertheless cope without the kind of financial support that is available for the AI sector in the U.S. Closing the performance gap increasingly depends on bulking up in-house computing capacity—yet China’s AI infrastructure spending remains a fraction of what is being spent in the U.S.

Private market alternatives

This is where access to Hong Kong’s finance industry will play a growing role. Its capital markets remain one of the few channels still capable of moving global capital toward Chinese enterprise at scale. More than 430 applicants are in the IPO pipeline in the second half of 2026.

The IPO pipeline, however, tells its own story. Many Chinese technology startups are choosing to list earlier than the previous generation of companies did because they lack an alternative.

Compare that with the U.S., where the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic have grown to an enormous scale by raising private capital. OpenAI closed a round of more than $100 billion earlier this year, while Anthropic raised $65 billion in May. China’s leading model developers, Zhipu AI and MiniMax, beat OpenAI and Anthropic to the public markets—but their Hong Kong IPOs in January raised just $558 million and $620 million respectively, despite heavy over-subscription.

Private credit is another route. Asia-Pacific private credit assets are projected to grow from $59 billion in 2024 to $92 billion by 2027, with China accounting for a fifth of the region’s activity. However, these loan providers tend to prioritize bigger or established companies.

It is already clear that the AI sector, unlike the software sector, will not be dominated by U.S. firms alone. China’s startups have learned the lessons of the previous decade, commanding global respect and winning a growing customer base. The country’s open-weight strategy has given its leading AI companies a cost advantage – even Silicon Valley leaders acknowledge it.

For China’s latest generation of AI entrepreneurs, venture capital and bank loans—the two main sources of start-up funding – may not be enough in the coming years. Keeping pace in the AI race will require using every asset and every channel available. It may mean a public listing earlier than they would have preferred, exploring the growing private credit ecosystem, revenue sharing with customers or leveraging the equity they hold as collateral.

The entrepreneurs involved in the next wave of China’s AI development will need to be creative with funding to maintain their competitive edge at a time when overseas rivals are spending 10 times as much.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune_._

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

The FBI has arrested an 18-year-old man who had been plotting to carry out a mass shooting at the Mall of America near Minneapolis in the name of ISIS, according to court filings.

He was arrested on Tuesday after an FBI undercover agent sold the Minnesota man, Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, an AK-47, ammunition and magazines for $600, according to the complaint. Mohamud told the informant he planned to use the items to kill 30 to 60 people at an event at the mall in late October.

Mohamud was charged with one count of knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition in order to commit an act of terrorism. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the complaint, Mohamud told an FBI source on various messaging platforms that he intended to travel overseas to fight on behalf of al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization. He said if he couldn’t travel, he planned to conduct a mass shooting. He later said he wanted to join ISIS.

He also allegedly expressed support for a man who rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans on January 1, 2025, killing 14, before being killed in a shootout with police.

Plan for attack at the Mall of America

In July, Mohamud allegedly said he wanted to kill 30 to 60 people at the Mall of America because he claimed its owners were Jewish, and he wanted to kill non-Muslims. He told the informant he planned an attack for October 24 because there was a “Hmong Arts Celebration” that day at the mall.

The Mall of America is the largest mall in the United States, with a theme park, an aquarium, and more than 500 stores.

On Tuesday, Mohamud allegedly bought the AK-47, four 30-round-capacity magazines and about 200 rounds of ammunition from an FBI undercover agent. Soon after, FBI agents arrested him.

Mohamud made his initial court appearance before US Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright on Wednesday.

This post was originally published on here.

MIAMI (VINnews) — The long rush of East Coast households into Miami has cooled sharply as South Florida’s housing and living costs have climbed past the bargain that once drew retirees and working families from New York and other high-price metros.

Net migration into Florida from elsewhere in the United States fell to 201,191 people, about 551 a day, according to a June report from the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies at the University of Florida. That is well below the post-pandemic peak of 598,737 new residents in 2022, or roughly 1,640 a day.

Miami-Dade County, anchored by the city of Miami, led the state in domestic out-migration, losing nearly 73,000 residents to other counties and states last year, the center reported. New York City has long been Miami’s largest out-of-state feeder market, but interest from that metro has faded. A Realtor.com review of cross-market traffic found that New York City shoppers accounted for 11% of nonlocal online views of Miami listings this fall, down about two-thirds from a 2023 peak.

The cost gap that once favored Florida has closed. An August report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, based on 2024 data, put Miami’s cost of living 14.1% above the national average, second among major cities only to San Francisco. New York City ranked fourth, at 12.5% above average. In Realtor.com’s 2026 metro report cards, Miami received an F on affordability and homebuilding. About 43.2% of Miami purchases were all-cash, the site reported.

Anthony Lamacchia, founder and chief executive of Lamacchia Realty, which has offices in New England and South Florida, told Realtor.com that Miami is “a victim of their own success.” He said Central Florida is now his firm’s top outbound market because buyers have been priced out of the south, and that the squeeze became clear in 2022 after prices jumped.

Lamacchia also tied part of the shift to reforms that followed the 2021 collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside. State rules now require older condominiums to complete structural inspections and fully fund reserves, which he said has pushed up condo fees and insurance premiums. Some corporate relocation clients, he said, tour properties for a weekend and decide the numbers no longer justify a move.

Ana Bozovic, a Miami agent and founder of Analytics Miami, told Realtor.com that fewer lower- and middle-income households are moving into South Florida. Land, construction, insurance, financing and labor have all risen, she said, so new housing is being built for affluent buyers because that is where development math works. Luxury sales, by contrast, hit record volume across the tiers she tracks in the first half of 2026. A December Realtor.com luxury report found Miami had overtaken New York City as the center of million-dollar listings.

Jiayi Xu, a senior economist at Realtor.com, said high-end jobs and capital are a boost, but hospitals, schools, restaurants and construction sites still need workers who can afford to live nearby. Bozovic said a city that looks like a place of opportunity will keep drawing people willing to absorb high costs, and that the task is to turn that wealth into broader affordability. She said she is optimistic Miami can do that.

Approximately 100,000 people are expected to visit the kever of Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l in Yerushalayim next week, as final preparations are completed for the massive annual aliyah l’kever marking his yahrtzeit.

The pilgrimage to the Sanhedria cemetery is scheduled to begin Tuesday evening, the night of 3 Cheshvan, and continue through Thursday, with organizers preparing transportation, security and crowd-control arrangements for the tens of thousands expected to arrive from across Israel.

A special steering committee has been established to oversee the logistical and operational aspects of the event, working together with police and other relevant authorities. Dozens of security personnel and ushers will be stationed throughout the area to direct the crowds and maintain order.

Transportation is expected to be one of the largest components of the operation. Buses carrying visitors are scheduled to arrive from approximately 70 cities throughout Israel during the yahrtzeit, while public transportation companies are preparing to significantly increase service on local routes serving the area of the kever.

Under the traffic plan, visitors will enter the kever complex from the intersection of Sderot Eshkol and Eretz Chefetz. Bloy Street will be designated for exiting the area only.

Traffic arrangements will also be altered around the Sanhedria Junction and on roads leading toward the cemetery because of the enormous number of visitors anticipated during the event.

Special tents for tefillah will be erected at the site, along with refreshment stations providing drinks for those coming to the kever. Ushers and security personnel will be deployed at multiple points throughout the complex to keep pedestrian traffic moving safely during the three-day period.

Organizers are strongly urging visitors not to arrive in private vehicles because of the heavy congestion expected around Sanhedria and restrictions that will be imposed on private traffic near the cemetery.

Those who do travel toward the area by car are being advised to use municipal parking lots or park in nearby neighborhoods and continue to the kever using public transportation.

The public is also being asked to follow all instructions issued by police officers, security personnel and ushers throughout the yahrtzeit.

Rav Ovadia Yosef, one of the most influential Sephardic poskim and Torah leaders of the modern era, was niftar on 3 Cheshvan 5774, October 7, 2013. His levayah drew an estimated 800,000 people to the streets of Yerushalayim, making it one of the largest funerals in Israel’s history.

In the years since his petirah, his kever in Sanhedria has become a destination for large numbers of visitors throughout the year, with particularly enormous crowds arriving each 3 Cheshvan to mark his yahrtzeit and daven at his resting place.

{Matzav.com}

Gov. Kathy Hochul maintains a double-digit advantage over Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman with less than four weeks remaining before Election Day, but a new Marist poll shows the Nassau County executive leading among independent voters and running even with the Democratic governor in New York’s suburbs.

The statewide survey found Hochul backed by 53% of registered voters, compared with 42% for Blakeman, while 5% remain undecided. The 11-point margin nevertheless masks significant differences across regions and political affiliations that could shape the closing weeks of the campaign.

Among independents, Blakeman leads Hochul 49% to 42%, according to Marist. The two candidates are also deadlocked among suburban voters, with each receiving 48%.

Hochul’s commanding strength in New York City accounts for much of her statewide advantage. The governor leads Blakeman 69% to 24% among city voters. Upstate, however, the picture is reversed, with Blakeman holding a 51% to 45% advantage.

The poll also found a striking gender divide. Hochul leads among women by 29 percentage points, 62% to 33%, while Blakeman holds a narrow advantage among men, 51% to 47%.

Blakeman rejected the survey’s findings during a campaign appearance in Queens on Wednesday, accusing Marist of consistently producing results favorable to Democrats.

“The phony Marist poll by the woke university that always favors Democrats over Republicans,” he charged, before predicting he’ll get “record turnout” in New York City. “I’ve been in the South Bronx, Brooklyn, here in Queens many times just this week.”

Hochul, meanwhile, brushed aside questions about whether the latest numbers gave her reason to worry about the race.

“Being ahead by half a point or 1% is concerning. Double digits means something,” she told reporters Wednesday. “So, I’ll just let you all analyze that.”

The Marist result falls between several other recent surveys that have produced significantly different pictures of the race. A Siena poll released last month put Hochul ahead by nine points, 50% to 41%, while a Quinnipiac University survey released the same day gave the governor a much wider 19-point advantage, 58% to 39%, among likely voters.

The Quinnipiac findings differed notably from Marist on independents as well. Quinnipiac’s September survey had Hochul leading independent likely voters 51% to 45%, while the new Marist survey has Blakeman ahead among independents by seven points.

Another survey conducted in late September by Co/efficient showed Hochul leading 48% to 41%, with 11% undecided, placing her advantage at seven points. Taken together, the recent polling has consistently shown Hochul ahead statewide, although the size of that advantage has varied considerably depending on the poll.

The new Marist numbers also carry an echo of the 2022 gubernatorial contest. A Marist poll released during the closing weeks of that race showed Hochul leading Republican Lee Zeldin by 10 points. Hochul ultimately defeated Zeldin by roughly six percentage points, in what became New York’s closest gubernatorial election in decades.

Blakeman is seeking to build support in the closing stretch by focusing heavily on crime, taxes, affordability and immigration, while Hochul has sought to tie him closely to President Trump and national Republicans. Trump is scheduled to campaign with Blakeman in Syracuse on Friday as Republicans work to boost turnout in Upstate New York and several closely watched congressional districts.

The broader findings from Marist suggest Democrats retain an advantage in New York heading into the midterm elections. Asked which party’s congressional candidate they would support, 55% of registered voters chose the Democrat and 42% chose the Republican.

Independents were much more closely divided on the congressional ballot than in the governor’s race, with 49% supporting a Democratic congressional candidate and 47% backing a Republican. Democrats lead 73% to 25% in New York City and 51% to 47% in the suburbs, while Republicans hold a 52% to 45% advantage Upstate.

The survey also examined the extent to which President Trump is influencing voters’ congressional choices. Forty-four percent said their vote would primarily be a vote “against” Trump, while 22% said their vote would be in support of the president. Another 33% said Trump would have little or no effect on their decision.

Among independents, 49% said Trump was not much of a factor in determining their congressional vote.

Marist also found Trump with a 38% job approval rating among registered voters statewide, while 60% disapproved of his performance.

Economic concerns remain widespread among New Yorkers. Forty percent of those surveyed said their family finances had worsened over the previous year, compared with 18% who said their situation had improved. Another 41% reported little change.

Despite the competitiveness reflected among independents and suburban voters, most respondents believe Hochul will ultimately prevail. Sixty-nine percent told Marist they expect her to be reelected, compared with 27% who expect Blakeman to win.

The Marist survey was conducted from Oct. 1 through Oct. 4 among 1,361 registered New York voters using live telephone interviews, text and online responses. The poll carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

{Matzav.com}

Republican political organizations have assembled an extraordinary campaign war chest approaching $1 billion as the November midterm elections enter their final weeks, pouring enormous sums into competitive House and Senate races across the country, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

MAGA Inc., one of the largest groups supporting Republican candidates and President Trump’s political agenda, had approximately $416 million available by late August and dramatically accelerated its spending during September.

Texas has emerged as one of the most expensive battlegrounds, with Republican groups spending more than $100 million as both parties fight over races that could determine control of Congress.

Republicans hold a financial advantage overall, while Democratic organizations have also amassed hundreds of millions of dollars for advertising, turnout operations and competitive races.

The November 3 election will determine control of Congress for the final two years of Trump’s current term, with both parties treating a relatively small number of competitive races as decisive.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

If you’d never heard of red-dyed diesel before it suddenly entered the news cycle this week, you’re not alone. Even President Donald Trump said he was unfamiliar with the fuel at a campaign rally in Grand Island, Neb., on Monday, Oct. 5. “I don’t know what the hell it is, but whatever it is, it’s supposed to be very good,” he told the crowd.

Moments later, Trump signed an executive order onstage that temporarily allows red-dyed diesel on public roads and defers the federal excise tax normally owed on highway fuel through Dec. 31. Despite Trump calling the fuel “tax-free,” the tax hasn’t gone away—at least not yet. The order directs the Treasury Department to defer payment without interest or penalties, and to explore ways to eliminate the deferred bill entirely.

The move comes as diesel prices hover near record highs, squeezing truckers and farmers in the middle of harvest season. It also follows the administration’s retreat from a proposed ban on U.S. diesel exports, which Trump said last week “we were never going to do.”

What is red-dyed diesel?

Alan Krupnick, a senior fellow at Resources for the Future and director of its Industry and Fuels Program, explained the fuel to Fortune: “It’s the same as regular diesel, but dyed red so inspectors can make sure it’s being sold only for off-road uses, [such as] for agricultural vehicles.”

What’s different about red-dyed and regular diesel, then, aside from the color? “It is [sold] tax-free to give agriculture and other heavy, off-road vehicles and other users a break,” Krupnick said.

Gilbert Metcalf, a visiting professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a former deputy assistant secretary for environment and energy at the U.S. Treasury Department, described it the same way. “This is the same diesel that you can buy at a gas station; it just has red dye in it. That’s to indicate that it’s not subject to the federal diesel tax.”

How much could drivers actually save?

That federal tax is 24.4 cents per gallon: a 24.3-cent excise tax plus a 0.1-cent “Leaking Underground Storage Tank” fee, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. On a 250-gallon fill-up for an 18-wheeler, that works out to about $61. The White House’s claim that truckers will save more than $100 per fill-up assumes states suspend their own diesel taxes as well, which the order encourages but can’t require.

Measured against the pump price, the federal tax is a sliver. Diesel averaged about $6.20 a gallon nationally the week of Oct. 5, per the EIA, down from a peak of roughly $6.53 in late September. Before the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran in late February, the national average was about $3.76, according to AAA. A 24.4-cent break amounts to about 4% of today’s price—a modest savings for everyday motorists, and perhaps not much more for heavier users in trucking, farming, and other industries.

Why economists say it won’t move prices

The bigger problem is that a small cut in per-gallon costs does nothing to change the basics of supply and demand. Metcalf sees little potential for the executive order to have any meaningful impact.

“I don’t see this having really any impact on supply…. On the supply side, it’s not going to lead to any more diesel coming online, all it does is change some of the diesel that’s out there [to be] usable by anyone,” Metcalf said. “But that doesn’t change the total amount of diesel that’s out there. And if you look at U.S. refineries, they’re operating at near record capacity levels. There’s no ability to process more or create more diesel. That’s the supply side.”

Could farmers end up paying more?

“On the demand side,” Metcalf continued, “if we shift some of that diesel into road use, what does that mean? It means that the diesel is going to be more expensive for farmers and other off-road use, like construction.”

In other words, opening red-dyed diesel to highway drivers may slightly reduce on-road fuel costs while actually raising the effective price paid by the off-road users the fuel was meant to help. Farmers who already burn red-dyed diesel in their tractors and combines don’t gain a new tax break from the order.

Diesel prices have surged primarily because of two overseas conflicts: the war with Iran, which has disrupted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and the Russia-Ukraine war, where Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries prompted Moscow to restrict its own diesel exports. With global supply tight and U.S. refiners already running hard, the system has little slack.

Only a return to more stable global production and refining will have a true and lasting impact on domestic diesel prices. A temporary tax deferral is unlikely to deliver much relief, and it may even backfire if it drives up fuel costs for farmers, construction firms, and other off-road users.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

“מי שמחזיק בדירה – יכול לקבל הלוואה מידית”

נפתלי כהן כתבה מקודמת

08:30

Americans 55 and older now control close to $140 trillion in household wealth, giving older consumers extraordinary influence over where money is spent across the U.S. economy.

A new Bank of America Institute analysis found that households headed by people over 55 held close to $140 trillion in net worth during the second quarter of 2026. The finding comes as America’s population gets older and millions of people move from their working years into retirement.

The numbers help explain why companies from airlines and hotels to grocery chains and health care providers are paying closer attention to older customers.

In simple terms, older Americans increasingly have two things that matter enormously to businesses: money and time.

The Federal Reserve reported that total U.S. household and nonprofit net worth climbed $12.8 trillion during the second quarter alone, reaching $195.9 trillion, with rising stock values accounting for much of the increase.

Bank of America said Americans over 55 have benefited significantly from that wealth creation. But the shift is about more than the stock market.

America itself is getting older.

The share of the population over 60 increased by almost 10 percentage points between 1995 and 2025. By 2055, that group is projected to represent nearly 30% of the population, according to Census Bureau projections cited by Bank of America.

That demographic change is altering how Americans spend.

People 65 and older spend about 2½ fewer hours each day working and roughly two more hours on leisure than the overall adult population, according to Bank of America’s analysis. Its card data also shows older households devote relatively more of their spending to groceries and travel and less to restaurants, gasoline, clothing and general merchandise.

Federal time-use data backs up the difference.

Americans 65 to 74 spent an average of 6.9 hours a day on leisure and sports activities in 2025, while those 75 and older spent 7.4 hours. By comparison, Americans between 35 and 44 spent just 3.9 hours.

Television accounts for a large portion of that leisure time. Americans 65 and older averaged about 4.3 hours of television viewing per day, compared with 2.6 hours for Americans overall.

For businesses, those numbers point toward a major shift in the consumer economy.

Older Americans with sufficient savings have more opportunity to travel, take cruises, stay in hotels and spend on leisure activities. Bank of America’s card data shows older households already devote a relatively larger share of their spending to travel and groceries.

But there is another side to the story.

The nearly $140 trillion figure does not mean every older American is wealthy.

Bank of America specifically cautioned that wealth is unevenly distributed and that health care and other rising costs remain significant pressures for retirees living on fixed or limited incomes.

That divide could become increasingly important.

Older households that own homes outright, hold retirement accounts and benefited from rising stock prices may have considerable spending power. Retirees without those assets are much more exposed to increases in food, fuel, housing and medical costs.

Gasoline provides one example. AAA reported that regular gasoline averaged $4.41 a gallon nationally on Oct. 1, $1.25 more than a year earlier. September’s $4.33 monthly average was the highest ever recorded for that month.

Health care represents an even longer-term challenge because medical expenses generally consume a larger portion of household budgets as people age.

The result is an American economy increasingly influenced by two very different groups of older consumers: those entering retirement with substantial accumulated wealth and those relying heavily on fixed incomes.

For corporate America, understanding that distinction will matter.

The population over 60 is expected to continue expanding for decades, meaning the spending decisions of Americans in their 60s, 70s and beyond will increasingly influence industries ranging from travel and entertainment to groceries, housing and health care.

America’s aging population is no longer simply a demographic story.

With nearly $140 trillion controlled by households over 55, it is becoming one of the biggest consumer stories in the U.S. economy.

JBizNews Desk | Charlotte, N.C.

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

NEW YORK (VINnews) — A pasta-station sign in a Columbia University dining hall on Wednesday labeled one of its sauces “October 7th Blush Sauce,” the third anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on Israel.

The printed board, marked “Today’s Special” and carrying the Columbia Dining logo, listed the item under sauces beside marinara, turkey bolognese and garlic oil. The blush sauce carried dietary codes for gluten-free, dairy and vegetarian. Other items on the board included regular pasta, whole wheat penne, spinach and sundried tomatoes, and garlic parmesan rolls.

Simone Saidmehr, New York correspondent for Haaretz, posted a photograph of the sign on X on Wednesday afternoon. The post drew more than 1,500 likes within hours.

Blush sauce, a creamy tomato pasta sauce, is a regular offering in Columbia dining halls. The university’s online menu for John Jay Dining Hall on Wednesday evening listed the same station’s sauces as marinara, blush sauce and garlic oil, without a date attached to the blush sauce.

One person replying on social media wrote that the wording appeared to be a copy-and-paste error by whoever printed the menu and that the sign had been corrected. Columbia Dining had not issued a public statement as of Wednesday evening, and the claim of a printing error could not be independently confirmed.

The listing landed on a campus that has been a focus of protests, disciplinary cases and federal scrutiny since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, in which Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. Jewish students and outside groups have repeatedly accused the university of failing to protect them from antisemitic harassment during subsequent demonstrations. Columbia has said it is committed to combating antisemitism while protecting free expression.

Wednesday’s menu photograph renewed that argument online, with critics calling the date on a routine sauce insensitive and others saying the label simply reflected the calendar date.

A chilling new investigation has revealed that the Flydubai co-pilot who attempted to crash a passenger aircraft bound for Israel had been planning the terrorist attack for months and nearly carried it out during an earlier flight in July. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the Omani national deliberately pursued employment with an airline operating flights to Israel, intending to carry out a mass-casualty terrorist attack.

The suspect, identified as Hamam al-Hammami, reportedly told investigators that he specifically sought employment with an airline operating flights to Israel. After joining Flydubai, he requested assignments on the Dubai to Tel Aviv route, where he intended to incapacitate the captain and deliberately crash the aircraft into a target such as Ben Gurion Airport.

Investigators discovered that Hammami had considered carrying out the attack in July but abandoned the plan because he cared about one of the crew members aboard that particular flight. His decision was only a postponement, however, as he continued preparing for another opportunity to carry out the attack.

During Flydubai Flight 1073, Hammami attacked the aircraft’s captain with a cockpit crash axe and sent the passenger jet into a dangerous dive. The wounded captain, along with passengers and crew, managed to regain control of the aircraft, preventing what could have become a catastrophic terrorist attack.

The investigation also raised serious questions about aviation security and how a pilot allegedly motivated by extremist ideology was able to gain access to the cockpit of an aircraft carrying passengers to Israel. Hammami reportedly told investigators that his actions were motivated by the situation in Gaza.

The revelations underscore how close the passengers came to disaster and expose the extraordinary danger posed by a terrorist operating from inside the cockpit of a commercial passenger aircraft.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Rich Americans are getting richer, but not all equally. The K-shaped split that let high earners pull away from low earners now cuts through the top 1% too, with the ultra-rich far ahead of the rest.  

The average household in the top 0.1% is now worth about $204 million, or 7.7 times as much as one in the rest of the top 1%, according to a Fortune analysis of Federal Reserve data. That ratio is the highest in the Fed’s quarterly series going back to 1989, up from 6.2 times at the end of 2019. Currently, the Fed counts 136,779 households in the top 0.1%

The top 0.1%’s wealth has more than doubled since the end of 2019, from $13.4 trillion to nearly $28 trillion in the second quarter of 2026. Over the same period, the rest of the top 1% saw its wealth grow 68%, from $19.3 trillion to $32.5 trillion.  The top 0.1% now holds 15% of the nation’s household wealth, up 0.5 percentage point since the first quarter. 

“We are talking about continued redistribution upward and further concentration of wealth at the top,” Markus Schneider, an associate professor of economics at the University of Denver, told Fortune.

Why the ultra-rich pulled ahead

The clearest difference between the two groups is what they own. 

More than half of the top 0.1%’s assets are in stocks and mutual funds, which left the group well-positioned to ride the stock market’s repeated record highs in recent years, largely driven by AI and tech. The top 0.1% holds  almost as much in stocks and mutual funds as the rest of the top 1% combined—$16.2 trillion versus $16.7 trillion—even though the rest of the 1% has nine times as many households, Fed data shows. 

The rest of the 1% also has more of its wealth tied up in real estate and defined-contribution retirement accounts. It holds $4.7 trillion in real estate, compared with nearly $2 trillion for the top 0.1%, and about $1.7 trillion in in those retirement plans, compared with just $230 billion for the top 0.1%, Fed data shows. 

The different mix helps explain why their fortunes are split, according to Eric Zwick, a professor of economics and finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He said when stocks rise faster than home prices, the households with more of their wealth invested reap more gains. 

“It’s been an extraordinarily good period for public markets, and a lot of that is driven by some of these really high-performing tech companies,” Zwick told Fortune. 

Zwick also said high interest rates have slowed the housing market, and that home prices have fallen in some parts of the country “relative to what’s going on in the stock market.”

The gap has widened before. It expanded substantially from 2003 through 2007 ahead of the 2008 financial crisis, per the Fed data, rising from about 5 times in early 2003 to 6.3 times in late 2007. The previous high was 6.5 times, in early 1998.

What the data can’t say

Zwick noted the Fed data can’t reveal whether the top 0.1% owns more AI stocks than the rest of the 1% because it assumes every group holds the same mix of stocks. The data also counts whoever is in the top 0.1% in a given quarter rather than tracking the same households over time, which could hide how many people move in and out of the group as some companies grow and others shrink. 

“There were companies that were doing really well 10 years ago that are struggling now, and there are companies that came out of nowhere that are now some of the biggest companies in the economy, and that means that people who own those companies or top workers of those companies are suddenly moving above other people,” he said. 

He also cautioned against assuming the K-shaped divide in the 1% is permanent.

“It sort of feels like it’s an artifact of the very specific economic shocks that are happening right now, as opposed to some super deep structural change in the economy,” he said. 

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday proposed a $70,000 fee for international students seeking to work in the United States, the latest effort from the Trump administration to crack down on foreign enrollment.

A proposed rule would require schools to pay the fee for every student who participates in the optional practice training program, known as OPT, which allows students to work in jobs related to their major during or after their time in school. Students are generally eligible for one year of work post-graduation, though certain science, technology, engineering and math majors are eligible for an additional two years.

Schools would be required to pay the $70,000 for each new student’s initial application to the program, and a $30,000 fee for each renewal.

Change would be a blow to higher education and some businesses

American colleges and universities heavily recruit students from overseas as a source of tuition revenue. Tech companies and other industries also hire many international students for technical roles.

The OPT program allows international students to gain hands-on experience and fill labor shortages in high-demand STEM fields, said Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA, an association that represents international education.

“Driving away the talents, perspectives, and aspirations of international students will only hurt American innovation, economic growth, workforce development, and global leadership,” Aw said in a written statement.

In a statement, DHS described the fee as a response to fraud and abuse of the visa program, which it called a “pipeline for cheap foreign labor.”

The public has 60 days to comment on the proposal before DHS can finalize it and put it into effect. The proposal also could face legal challenges from higher education groups or business associations that could delay it.

Trump administration puts pressure on international students

The proposed rule is part of its wider efforts to crack down on immigration and reshape higher education. Last year, the Republican administration began suddenly terminating the legal status of thousands of international students, detaining and deporting many of them.

This summer, the administration finalized a rule that sought to prevent international students from staying in the U.S. for more than four years without approval from the federal government. The move drew swift backlash from higher education leaders who said it would increase the burden on schools and noted that many programs are longer than four years by design. A federal court prevented the rule from taking effect in September.

Doug Rand, a former senior adviser at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services during the Biden administration, predicted that the fee would be struck down in the courts, as was a $100,000 fee for the H-1B work visas that many tech companies and universities rely on to fill openings for skilled jobs.

The Trump administration is now trying a different way to raise the fee for the visas to more than $100,000.

Rand said fees are not the answer.

“When we educate international students at our universities, and they want to work and apply their talents here after graduating, of course we should embrace them — not use an exorbitant fee as a pretext to send them packing,” Rand said in an email.

Enrollment concerns mount among education groups

Sarah Spreitzer, vice president at the American Council on Education, which represents college and university presidents, said international enrollment has suffered.

Last fall, the number of new students entering the United States for the first time fell by 17%, the sharpest decrease since the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall numbers for this fall are not yet available, but Spreitzer said some individual colleges are reporting drops of 30% to 40%.

She said the new Trump plan will not help.

“We know that OPT is one of the reasons that international students choose to study in the United States because they’re able to have that post-graduation work experience,” she added.

A similar program that allowed international students to participate in internships and practicums also has faced scrutiny from the Trump administration. New guidance from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the program, Curricular Practical Training, should only be authorized when the work experience is a degree requirement led to a lawsuit Monday.

Education groups, including the Association of American Universities and NAFSA, said that in the past that program was allowed if it was “directly related to the student’s major area of study.” The groups also said ICE was threatening college university officials with criminal prosecution if they did not comply.

“We know the administration has been trying to hinder legal employment-based immigration through numerous means,” said Steven Brown, a Houston-based immigration lawyer. “I think this is the next level of attack, and I think it’s a design to kill the program without killing the program. I don’t see too many schools wanting to pay $70,000 for a student to get OPT.”

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Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kan.

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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu on the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre, offering his support to Israel and declaring that those responsible for the Hamas-led attack are now “paying a very big price.”

“I spoke with Bibi Netanyahu, and I wished him well, and I wished the people of Israel well. That was a horrible day, a horrible tragedy – horrible,” Trump told reporters.

Trump then delivered a pointed message about the consequences faced by those responsible for the attack.

“The other side is paying a very big price for what they did on October 7, believe me,” the president said.

Trump did not disclose precisely when the conversation with Netanyahu took place or reveal whether the two leaders discussed other issues during the call.

The conversation came as Israel marked three years since the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when approximately 1,200 people were murdered and 251 were abducted into Gaza.

Memorial ceremonies were held across Israel on Wednesday, including in communities along the Gaza border and at the site of the Nova music festival massacre, as survivors, bereaved families and officials commemorated the victims of the deadliest terror attack in Israel’s history.

Trump’s remarks come as the situation in Gaza remains unresolved despite the ceasefire and hostage agreement reached under his administration last year.

The first stage of Trump’s Gaza plan produced a ceasefire and the release of the remaining living hostages held in Gaza, but several of the plan’s central objectives have yet to be fully implemented.

Most significantly, Hamas has not been fully disarmed, Israel has not completed the withdrawal envisioned under the plan, and the enormous task of rebuilding Gaza has barely begun. Israel continues to control roughly two-thirds of the Gaza Strip, while military operations have continued despite the ceasefire framework.

In July, Trump announced what he called a “HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza,” describing it as a major step in the implementation of his 20-point Gaza plan.

Under the framework, Hamas is to surrender its weapons in stages, Israeli forces are to withdraw as the disarmament process is completed, and an International Stabilization Force is eventually to work alongside a new Palestinian police force to maintain security.

Implementation, however, has proven difficult. Israel has maintained that it will not complete its withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed, while disagreements have persisted over how that disarmament would be carried out and verified.

The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 1,400 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect in October 2025. The Hamas-run ministry does not distinguish in its figures between civilians and combatants.

Meanwhile, the Trump-created Board of Peace has sought to move forward with reconstruction plans despite the unresolved security situation. In September, the board unveiled an initial $2.45 billion program aimed at beginning reconstruction and governance projects in the devastated territory.

The scale of the rebuilding challenge is far greater. International estimates have placed Gaza’s long-term reconstruction and recovery needs in the tens of billions of dollars, with the United Nations and European Union estimating that the process could require more than $70 billion over the coming decade.

Against that backdrop, Trump’s anniversary conversation with Netanyahu offered no indication of a new diplomatic breakthrough. Instead, the president focused publicly on the enormity of the Oct. 7 attack and the consequences that have followed for those responsible.

“The other side is paying a very big price for what they did on October 7, believe me,” Trump said.

{Matzav.com}

Over Sukkos, hundreds of Jews visited the home of Rosh Yeshivah HaGaon HaRav Moshe Tzvi Bergman, including Gedolei Yisrael, Roshei Yeshivah, Rabbanim and marbitzei Torah, Degel HaTorah representatives, mayors and public figures.

On erev Hoshanah Rabbah, a Simchas Yom Tov gathering was held at the Rosh Yeshivah’s home, during which he delivered forceful remarks.

The Rosh Yeshivah said: “Throughout this recent period, we have merited to witness open nissim. From every direction, enemies rise up to destroy us, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu performs open nissim for us. We can tangibly see how HaKadosh Baruch Hu shelters us and protects us with special hashgachah.

“Just yesterday, we saw such a great neis with the [FlyDubai] plane, which could have ended in a terrible disaster, chas v’shalom. It is awe-inspiring to see the Yad Hashem so clearly.”

“Morai v’Rabbosai, for a long time now we have been in a state of war over the Olam HaTorah world, over the integrity of the Torah world. We should know that this is the real war — there are those who want to destroy Klal Yisrael, chas v’shalom.”

“Baruch Hashem, the bochurim and avreichim are standing strong in an extraordinary way and are moser nefesh for this, as required by halachah. And I can say that halavei (if only) I could be zocheh to share the lot of those who are moser nefesh.

“And now comes a time when everyone is busy with politics. Everyone is talking about who will be at the top. We need to know that this is not our role. We need only to sit and learn Torah. We must do what needs to be done, but the main thing is to sit and learn.

“We are maaminim bnei maaminim in the eternal promise, ‘For it shall not be forgotten from the mouths of his descendants.’ And this does not depend on anyone. The Torah Hakedoshah will prevail.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

The accident happened shortly after 7:00 PM at the intersection of 9th Street and Madison Avenue.

Avoid the area.

Israel hopes to begin filing indictments during the first half of 2027 against terrorists accused of participating in the October 7 massacre, but serious staffing and logistical problems could delay the unprecedented proceedings, officials told the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Wednesday, according to The Times of Israel.

Approximately 300 suspects believed to have participated in the massacre are thought to remain in Israeli custody, although authorities have not publicly disclosed an exact figure.

Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman said the Israeli public is “waiting, demanding and entitled” to see those responsible for the atrocities prosecuted.

Officials told lawmakers that staffing shortages are affecting both the military prosecution and Israel Prison Service, while some suspects have still not been questioned by prosecutors.

A special facility intended to securely accommodate the trials is also facing delays, raising the possibility that some of the most significant criminal proceedings in Israel’s history will not begin until more than three years after the massacre.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

If you were lucky enough to grow up in the New York City school system, you more likely than not came across the story of Claudia and Jamie Kincaid in the children’s classic The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, in which the two young children, yearning to leave their self-described dull Connecticut suburb, make their way to New York City and hide out in the Met Museum. And if you were lucky enough to have grown up in New York, you didn’t have to imagine the wonder and awe the two children had in the museum after hours: you likely went on many a school trip there and mapped out how you would evade security guards. You know, just in case.

Well, nearly 60 years after E. L. Konigsburg wrote the book of two kids running towards the city and away from their suburb-living parents, there are increasing signs of the complete opposite occurring: parents are taking their kids out of the New York City school system, and out of New York City entirely, and heading for the ‘burbs, thanks to the increased cost of raising a child here. Families with young children are leaving New York City at more than twice the rate of households without them, and the public school system is shrinking as a result.

A decade ago, the city had over 1 million public school students, but this year it has 885,000, City Comptroller Mark Levine said in a social media post on X—and he expects another 150,000 fewer over the next decade. The drop has left 219 schools with fewer than 200 students each, he said, some too small to field a sports team. “This is not sustainable,” he wrote in the post, and the city will have to consolidate schools with sharply declining enrollment, Gothamist reported.

Levine said in a statement to Fortune that cost is part of the story. “Raising a family in New York City is increasingly difficult as the cost of living rises, and declining student enrollment is one troubling sign of that challenge,” he said. “Affordability is a major factor, but not the only one, and we need to better understand every driver of this trend to respond with viable, data-driven solutions.”

“Families with young kids are twice as likely to move out of the city than the rest of the population,” Emily Eisner, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, told Fortune. “That’s because it’s really expensive to raise kids in the city these days.” Housing adds to the pressure as children get older. “There’s basically no options for families to find an affordable housing situation,” she said.

The cost of raising a kid

An FPI report from June 2024 found that New York City households with a child under 6 were 112% more likely to leave than those without. They made up 30% of out-migrants but 14% of the population. Among New Yorkers who left the state after the pandemic, 36% said they wanted better or more affordable housing, up from 16% before it. The report calls the outflow a policy failure and says it raises long-run fiscal and economic concerns.

It’s not just the Big Apple: the cost of raising a child has climbed nationwide. LendingTree puts the 18-year total at more than $300,000, with childcare the largest expense for families with children under 5. Care for an infant and a 4-year-old averages $28,190 a year nationwide, which would take a household income of $402,708 to stay within the federal 7% affordability benchmark.

For comparison, the average two-child household earns $145,656. Parents spend about 20% of their income on childcare, according to Care.com, and one in five spend more than $30,000 a year. In a BMO survey, 82% of parents said the cost of raising children has “gotten out of control.”

Housing leaves less room still. A buyer needs at least $211,970 in household income to afford a median-priced home in New York City, nearly three times the national figure, according to StreetEasy, though that is down $10,625 from a year earlier. Meanwhile, only 15% of city households earn $200,000 or more.

Declining birth rates

Also compounding the strain is the declining birth rate, as U.S. fertility fell to a record low in 2024, to below 1.6 children per woman. Births in 2025 ran about 24,000 below the 2024 total. In New York, the city had about 110,000 births in 2019 and fewer than 100,000 a year since 2020.

A new FPI report shows the people leaving New York are not the wealthiest, Fortune reported last month. In typical years, FPI found, the top 1% of earners leave at one-quarter the rate of everyone else. But of middle-income families, Eisner said, “I don’t think they migrate because of taxes. They migrate because of the high cost of living, which really is about childcare costs and housing costs.”

Cost is not the only explanation. A city Education Department survey found that 40% of families who left the school system moved out of the city, citing a better environment to raise kids, concerns about schools, and more housing space.

Eisner said pushing for universal free childcare and a larger housing supply, referencing policies like how Mayor Zohran Mamdani campaigned on making child care free for children from 6 weeks to 5 years old, will ease that decline in children in the city. “Those will play a significant role in bringing the cost of living down.”

After all, the kids need a reason to map out their hideout spots in the Met.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

Mali and Liel Yahalomi, the Israeli mother and daughter whose disappearance abroad sparked a search in August, landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday afternoon aboard a flight from Athens.

The pair exited the terminal wearing matching outfits and did not speak with reporters waiting outside. Authorities did not appear to attempt to detain them.

Mali, 50, and Liel, 23, were located in Buenos Aires on August 14, approximately a week after their whereabouts became unknown in Vienna, Austria.

Israel Police confirmed at the time that the two had been found on an intercity bus in the Argentine capital.

The mother and daughter had failed to board their scheduled return flight from Prague, raising concern about their whereabouts.

Their travels began with a flight from Israel to Prague, followed by a visit to Vienna. They apparently traveled through Frankfurt before eventually reaching Buenos Aires.

Their arrival Wednesday marks their return to Israel nearly two months after they were located in Argentina.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday sued President Donald Trump’s administration for recent television advertisements that promoted his political message while costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that the ads are illegal government-sponsored propaganda and accuses Trump of personally directing them. It asks the court to declare the ads illegal and stop the use of federal funds to pay for them.

Trump has faced bipartisan backlash for the ads, which glorify him and echo his campaign pitch as voters cast early ballots with the midterm elections less than a month away.

The spots, which began airing in September, already have cost more than $12 million to run, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact, and a total of $20 million in Homeland Security Department funding has been tapped to pay for them.

Responding Monday to the criticism, Trump defended the ads as “positive promotion for our Great U.S.A.” but said he’d pay for them using his MAGA Inc. super PAC going forward.

But on Tuesday, the fifth ad in the campaign began airing with the notice “paid for by the U.S. Government,” promoting Trump’s military actions in Venezuela earlier this year. The same day, Trump made it clear he hasn’t committed to reimbursing any money that has already been spent, telling reporters “we’ll decide.”

DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement that Trump is misusing taxpayer dollars in “a last-ditch attempt to save Republicans in November.”

“Americans deserve better than to have their hard-earned tax dollars used for Trump’s illegal schemes,” he added.

A person familiar with the campaign who was not authorized to speak publicly said the ad buys placed prior to Trump’s pledge to start paying for them with his super PAC will end this week. Then, outside groups will begin to pay, the person said.

Legal experts have suggested the ads run afoul of a federal statute against congressionally appropriated money being used for “publicity or propaganda,” and potentially other federal laws. The Homeland Security money tapped for the ads comes from a $175 million package Congress gave to the department as part of Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda.

The White House has defended the ads as public service announcements akin to what past administrations have done to promote various policies. Legal experts have said the recent ads differ from many past public service announcements because they aren’t aimed at helping members of the public benefit from specific government programs.

The defendants in the lawsuit include Trump, the White House, DHS and the Office of Management and Budget. The White House referred an emailed inquiry to the president’s earlier comments about using his super PAC to pay for the ads. The other agencies didn’t respond to requests for comment.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he wants to develop one of his Florida golf courses into a presidential retreat where his successors can spend quiet weekends on the greens, describing it as “sort of a Camp David ” that he says would already have many of the security features needed to host presidents and world leaders.

The proposal for the retreat on Trump’s private golf course in West Palm Beach would comingle the presidency with Trump’s business ventures beyond his time in office, and is the the latest example of Trump seeking ways to leave his imprint on the presidency.

“It’s a great idea, and it’ll be used a lot,” Trump said, claiming it was suggested by the United States Secret Service. “It seems that all presidents play golf.”

The plan has already been submitted to local officials. Trump, an avid golfer, rattled off the benefits of the property a short drive from his Mar-a-Lago home during an unrelated event in the Oval Office, noting that it’s close to an airport and has some distance from residential homes and tall buildings, which pose security risks.

He did not mention that the golf course was the site of an unsuccessful attempt on his life in 2024. Trump was playing at the Trump International Golf Club during a break from the campaign trail when a Secret Service agent spotted an armed man in the trees lining the club’s perimeter fence. The man was arrested after a chase and later convicted of trying to kill Trump, and was sentenced to life in prison.

Past presidents have used Camp David, a rustic compound in Maryland, as a weekend retreat and a place to host presidential meetings. Trump has spent less time there, often opting for his own properties, including golf clubs in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia.

Palm Beach County sees what it calls a ‘historic opportunity’
Trump’s proposal follows other projects by the lifelong real estate developer to build a White House ballroom, gild the Oval Office, erect a triumphal arch, renovate the Kennedy Center, refurbish the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and rebuild a golf course in East Potomac Park. He has also begun planning a future presidential library in a Miami skyscraper.

In a letter to Palm Beach County commissioners last month, first reported by the Palm Beach Post, an attorney who represents the golf course said Trump is offering to designate it as a “U.S. Presidential Golf Course.”

“Just as Camp David, Windsor Castle, or the Elysée Palace are known worldwide, so too will the Presidential Golf Course in Palm Beach County,” Harvey Oyer said in the letter.

Palm Beach County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo said in a statement that local officials are eager to explore what this “historic opportunity” could mean to the community. “This likely would further cement Palm Beach County’s place on the national and international stage for generations to come,” Abruzzo said.

Oyer’s letter said the West Palm Beach golf course could be used by current and former presidents, along with visiting foreign heads of state. The Trump Organization owns the golf club but leases the land from the county, which would need to approve any changes.

Under the proposal, the club would pay to build a new presidential lodging and then work with the Secret Service and other agencies to provide free access to the federal government. The retreat would have a separate entrance from the private club, which earned Trump nearly $37 million during his first year back in office, according to his financial disclosure.

“This is a gift that the President would like to share with his successors, the people of America, and his fellow Palm Beach County residents,” Oyer wrote. “It should be noted that President Trump will be out of office before this proposed project could be completed so this is a gift to his successors.”

Oyer highlighted past U.S. presidents who turned over land for public use. Dwight Eisenhower donated his Gettysburg Farm in Pennsylvania to the National Park Service, and Franklin D. Roosevelt donated part of his estate in Hyde Park, New York.

Years before it was bought by Trump, Mar-a-Lago itself was proposed as a “Winter White House.”

Businesswoman and socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post left the home to the National Park Service when she died in 1973, but the agency returned the home to her estate in 1980 because of high maintenance costs. Trump bought the property in 1985, and it later became his primary residence.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he should win the Nobel Peace Prize but acknowledged doubt about his chances.

“I don’t know what their decision is going to be,” Trump said of the 2026 award, which the Norwegian Nobel Committee will announce on Friday. “They have a reputation for maybe not giving it to people like me.”

Since his return to the White House last year, Trump has repeatedly said he deserves what may be the world’s most prestigious award.

“It is about that time,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “But I was very honored to receive it indirectly last time by the recipient, who said nobody in history deserves it more than President Trump.”

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gave her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump in January as she sought US support for her efforts in Venezuela.

Trump says he earned Nobel for involvement in eight conflicts

Trump said he should get the prize after wading into eight conflicts since taking office last January.

The leaders of Cambodia, Israel and Pakistan have said they nominated Trump, though there is no way of verifying that.

Parties to some conflicts Trump claims to have resolved dispute the US president’s diplomatic role, and fighting has flared again in some of those regions, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and along the border between Cambodia and Thailand.

A resolution to Russia’s war in Ukraine has eluded Trump, who promised to end it on the first day of his second White House term. US-Israel strikes on Iran have led to a seven-month simmering conflict that has upended global energy supplies and driven gas prices up before November’s midterm elections.

Pope Leo, the International Criminal Court, and the special rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories are among the favorites to win this year.

This post was originally published on here.

Oil prices edged lower on Wednesday after the world’s leading energy watchdog agreed to rush emergency fuel stockpiles onto the market, easing fears of a deeper supply crunch even as a hurricane threat built in the Gulf of Mexico and attacks continued in the Middle East.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, settled down 38 cents at $100.20 a barrel. U.S. crude fell $1.16, or 1.3%, to $88.28. Trading was choppy, with prices swinging between gains and losses as traders weighed good news on supply against a long list of risks.

The biggest push lower came from the International Energy Agency, which represents major oil-consuming nations including the U.S. The group agreed to speed up releases of oil from government emergency reserves that had already been announced and to put diesel first in line. The IEA said finishing those releases as quickly as possible could bring about 100 million barrels to market. Some analysts and governments noted that this is largely oil already promised, not a brand-new release of that size. France said it would release 10 million barrels of diesel from its own strategic stocks.

In plain terms, governments are opening their emergency fuel tanks to bring prices down. That matters because diesel has been the tightest part of the market. Diesel powers the trucks, trains, tractors and ships that move almost everything Americans buy, so when diesel gets expensive, the cost of groceries, deliveries and building materials goes up with it. The national average for diesel climbed above $6 a gallon for the first time ever in September.

Supply from the Middle East has also been improving. Crude exports from the region topped their prewar levels on four of the final seven days of September, as producers found new routes and shipping workarounds despite the conflict. Saudi Arabia has been loading crude from ports on both its Persian Gulf and Red Sea coasts.

But the risks have not gone away. There have been at least nine attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz so far in October, according to British maritime officials, as the U.S.-Iran conflict drags on. Yemen’s Houthis also launched missiles and drones at Aden’s international airport on Wednesday. Analysts said those attacks kept Brent from falling as far as U.S. crude.

Closer to home, forecasters said a storm forming in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to become the first Atlantic hurricane of 2026 and is likely to hit oil and gas facilities. The Gulf produced about 2.05 million barrels of oil a day in September, roughly 15% of all U.S. production, or about 1 of every 7 barrels. Consulting firm Earth Science Associates estimated that about 11.2 million barrels of oil output could be lost while the storm passes, well above the 7.1 million barrels disrupted by Tropical Storm Bertha in July. Chevron has already begun pulling nonessential workers off its offshore platforms.

U.S. stockpiles also tightened. Crude inventories fell by 3.2 million barrels last week to 424.1 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said, while analysts had expected a small increase. Distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, also fell. Gasoline stocks rose.

“Europe is ground zero for this whole supply crunch,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital, adding that the stockpile releases should ease some of the pressure on U.S. supplies.

For American drivers, relief at the pump has been slow. The national average for regular gasoline was $4.41 a gallon on Oct. 1, according to AAA, down nearly 7 cents from the week before but still $1.25 higher than a year ago. September was the most expensive September on record at the pump, averaging $4.33 a gallon, 50 cents above the previous high set in 2023.

The emergency stockpile releases are the main tool governments are using right now to bring fuel costs down while the Middle East conflict continues. The Group of Seven nations have also agreed not to restrict their own energy exports, which helps keep fuel moving across borders. Whether it works depends on two things: whether Middle East exports keep recovering, and how badly the Gulf storm hits American production and refineries later this week.

For now, oil is holding near $100 a barrel for Brent, and drivers and truckers are watching both the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Mexico.

JBizNews Desk | Houston

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

The average U.S. 30-year fixed mortgage rate surged to 7.49% last week, reaching its highest level in nearly three years and delivering another blow to Americans already struggling with the cost of buying a home.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday that the average contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage with a conforming loan balance jumped 19 basis points, from 7.30% to 7.49%, during the week ending Oct. 2. The rate has not been higher since November 2023.

The sharp increase immediately weighed on demand. Overall mortgage applications fell 4.2% from the previous week, dropping to their lowest level since February 2025. Applications to purchase homes declined 2%, while refinancing applications plunged 8%.

Refinancing has been hit particularly hard. Refinance applications are now 56% below their level at the same time last year and have fallen to less than half of last year’s pace, as millions of homeowners remain locked into mortgages carrying significantly lower rates.

“Mortgage rates moved to their highest level in almost three years last week, with the 30-year fixed rate reaching 7.49% as both Treasury rates increased and spreads widened with the increase in rate volatility,” said Joel Kan, the MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist.

“Very few homeowners have an incentive to refinance at these rates, and the jump in borrowing costs has caused many potential borrowers to step back from the purchase market. With rates roughly a percentage point higher than a year ago, refinance applications last week were at the lowest level since 2025 and fell to less than half of last year’s pace.”

The latest increase marks the seventh consecutive week that mortgage rates have risen. The 30-year rate has climbed roughly 1.4 percentage points since late February, when the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran began and the resulting surge in oil prices intensified inflation concerns.

Mortgage rates do not move directly with the Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate. Instead, they tend to track the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which has been soaring amid concerns about inflation, elevated energy prices, stronger-than-expected economic growth and the future direction of monetary policy.

The 10-year Treasury yield climbed above 5.3% on Monday, reaching its highest level in 24 years. The 30-year Treasury yield has also surged, reaching approximately 5.7% Wednesday, its highest level since 2002.

Those moves have pushed borrowing costs higher across the economy and intensified the affordability crisis confronting prospective homebuyers, who are simultaneously dealing with home prices that remain elevated in many parts of the country.

The difference between a mortgage in the 6% range and one approaching 7.5% can translate into hundreds of dollars in additional monthly payments. On a $500,000 30-year mortgage, for example, principal and interest at 7.49% would be approximately $3,490 per month, compared with about $3,000 at 6%. That is nearly $500 more each month, before property taxes, insurance and other housing expenses are included.

The pressure is particularly acute for first-time and lower-income buyers. Applications for Federal Housing Administration purchase loans fell 6% last week, the steepest decline among the major loan categories tracked by the MBA.

“Purchase activity decreased across all loan types with FHA purchase applications falling the most, declining 6%, as these higher rates add to ongoing affordability challenges for many homebuyers,” Kan said.

As fixed mortgage rates have risen, more borrowers have turned to adjustable-rate mortgages in an effort to secure lower initial payments. Adjustable-rate loans accounted for 10.3% of total mortgage applications last week.

Other mortgage products also became more expensive. The average rate for a 15-year fixed mortgage climbed from 6.56% to 6.71%, while the average FHA-backed 30-year mortgage increased from 6.97% to 7.14%. Jumbo 30-year mortgage rates rose from 7.27% to 7.39%.

One exception was the average rate on a 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage, which edged down from 6.47% to 6.43%.

The renewed mortgage-rate surge comes as inflation has again become a major concern for policymakers. Inflation measured by the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge was running at 3.4% in August, well above the central bank’s 2% target.

Federal Reserve officials raised their benchmark rate in September and have indicated that another increase could come before the end of the year, although financial markets currently expect policymakers to leave rates unchanged at their meeting later this month.

President Donald Trump addressed the mortgage-rate surge Wednesday, again arguing that interest rates should be lower. Trump praised Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh but said other members of the Fed board “would like to see the country do badly, in my opinion, because I think interest rates should come down.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attributed much of the recent inflation and rate pressure to the surge in energy prices associated with the Iran conflict, predicting that borrowing costs could ease once those pressures subside.

“So once we get on the other side of this Iran conflict, (the) energy market is going to be well supplied, and we will move down towards the Fed’s target and mortgage rates and the 10-year will come back down,” Bessent said.

{Matzav.com}

Two new Israeli election polls released Wednesday evening paint sharply different pictures of the race, but both show Prime Minister Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc in a stronger position. A Channel 13 poll gives Netanyahu’s bloc 55 seats, its highest showing in the network’s polling during the current election campaign, while a simultaneous Channel 14 poll gives the right-wing bloc 63 seats, enough to form a government.

In the Channel 13 poll, Likud and Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar are tied for first place with 20 seats each. Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad follows with 12 seats, while the Democrats receive 10. The Joint List receives 9 seats, Yisrael Beiteinu, Otzma Yehudit and United Torah Judaism each receive 8, Religious Zionism-Zehut and Shas each receive 7, Ra’am receives 6, and Amcha Yisrael receives 5.

The Channel 13 bloc breakdown puts Netanyahu’s bloc at 55 seats, the opposition bloc at 50, and the Arab parties at 15. While the result marks a new high for Netanyahu’s bloc in Channel 13’s polling during the current campaign, it would still leave the bloc six seats short of the 61-seat majority required to control the 120-seat Knesset and form a government.

Channel 14’s poll shows a dramatically different electoral map. Likud leads with 31 seats, followed by Yashar with 23. Shas receives 10, the Democrats 9, Otzma Yehudit and United Torah Judaism 8 each, the Joint List 7, Religious Zionism-Zehut 6, Yisrael Beiteinu 5, and Ra’am 5.

Under Channel 14’s bloc breakdown, the right-wing bloc receives 63 seats, giving it a two-seat majority above the 61-seat threshold. The left-wing bloc receives 45 seats, while the Arab parties receive a combined 12 seats.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Federal officers busted in a door made an arrest at a Lakewood-area home today following an investigation, TLS has learned.

Sources told TLS the investigation apparently began a while back after the suspect allegedly ordered drugs online that were intercepted while going through the U.S. Postal Service system. However, someone in the household apparently continued the illegal activity, leading federal authorities to investigate further.

Yesterday, a drone was spotted flying overhead and was apparently conducting surveillance in the area.

Today, federal officers arrived at the home.

Moments after someone went outside to pick up the mail, officers reportedly busted down the door and entered the residence, making an arrest.

The investigation remains ongoing

AT&T has agreed to buy more than $3 billion worth of fiber-optic cable from Corning over the next several years, locking in the glass strands it needs to bring faster home internet to millions more Americans.

The two companies announced the multi-year agreement on Sept. 29. Under the deal, Corning will supply the fiber and cable AT&T uses to expand its network. AT&T said the agreement is part of its plan to reach 60 million American homes and businesses with fiber internet by the end of 2030.

Here is what that means in everyday terms. Fiber internet runs on thin strands of glass that carry data as pulses of light. It is far faster and more reliable than older copper lines, and it can handle several people in one house streaming, gaming and working online at the same time without slowing down. But a company cannot hook up a single new neighborhood without first getting miles of that cable. This deal guarantees AT&T will have it.

The reason is simple: Americans are using more internet than ever. According to AT&T, the average household on its fiber service now uses more than 1 terabyte of data every month, five times more than in 2016. The company expects that number to roughly double, to between 2 and 2.5 terabytes a month, by 2030, as streaming, video calls, cloud storage and artificial intelligence tools become part of daily life.

“Fiber remains the gold standard for superior internet connectivity, and AT&T is the nation’s leader in fiber,” said John Stankey, chairman and CEO of AT&T. He said the company values its long relationship with Corning and plans to keep making the long-term investments needed to expand its network.

The deal also tackles a real supply problem. The rush to build data centers for artificial intelligence has put heavy pressure on the world’s supply of optical fiber, as tech giants compete with phone and internet companies for the same cable. By signing a large, long-term order, AT&T is making sure it does not get stuck waiting in line while it builds out to new customers.

Corning, based in Corning, New York, has become one of the biggest winners of that demand. It has recently signed large fiber supply deals with Verizon, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Zayo. In May, the company announced plans to build three new optical manufacturing plants in North Carolina and Texas to keep up with orders.

That matters for American jobs. Corning makes its fiber in the U.S., and the companies said its North Carolina facilities have already created hundreds of jobs. AT&T, for its part, said its technicians who install and maintain the network make up the industry’s largest union-represented workforce. In plain terms, the cable is made by American workers and installed by American workers.

“By pairing our large, U.S.-based advanced manufacturing with AT&T’s network leadership, we can keep co-innovating to build the dense fiber networks that will drive the future of connectivity,” said Wendell Weeks, chairman, CEO and president of Corning. He added that the partnership will help sustain thousands of skilled American jobs and strengthen domestic supply chains.

For households, the bigger picture is about choice and speed. AT&T says its fiber can deliver speeds about three times faster than the top advertised satellite internet services. The company plans to use satellite only to reach roughly 2% of remote areas, or about 1 in 50, where fiber and wireless are not practical.

The Corning order fits into a much larger spending push. AT&T has committed more than $250 billion over five years to strengthen U.S. internet and phone infrastructure. It also bought Lumen’s consumer fiber business for $5.75 billion, which added millions of homes to its reach. The company said the Corning deal is already reflected in the financial outlook it gave investors in July, meaning it does not change its spending plans or targets.

The deal also deepens a rivalry. Verizon struck its own multi-billion-dollar fiber agreement with Corning earlier, and both carriers are racing to wire up as many homes as possible before customers lock in with a competitor. For consumers in neighborhoods that currently have only one choice for home internet, that race could mean a second fiber option and more pressure on prices.

For now, the message from both companies is clear: demand for home internet keeps climbing, and the companies that secure the cable first will be the ones that connect the next wave of American homes.

JBizNews Desk | Dallas

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

The U.S.-backed Board of Peace said Wednesday that the war and devastation that transformed the Middle East over the past three years were “unleashed by Hamas” on October 7, 2023, while calling for renewed implementation of President Trump’s Gaza peace framework, according to a statement from the organization.

The body issued the statement on the third anniversary of the massacre, saying the attack left wounds extending far beyond the communities directly targeted by Hamas terrorists.

The Board of Peace was created as part of the Trump administration’s effort to oversee the transition in Gaza following the ceasefire and eventual return of the hostages.

Major elements of the plan remain unresolved, including Hamas’s disarmament, the future governance of Gaza and reconstruction of the devastated territory.

The board said moving the plan forward remains necessary to prevent the region from returning to another full-scale war.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Prof. Eytan Gilboa is cautioning against drawing premature conclusions about Iranian involvement in the attempted attack aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073, warning that public declarations blaming Tehran could create expectations for an Israeli or American military response before investigators have established who was behind the plot.

Gilboa made the comments after President Donald Trump publicly said he personally believes Iran was responsible for the attempted attack aboard the Israel-bound flight. Investigators have not publicly announced evidence establishing an Iranian role, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has said it remains too early to determine whether Tehran was involved.

Trump initially said that, based on what he was hearing, he believed there could be an Iranian connection. Asked whether the United States would retaliate if Iran was found responsible, Trump warned that Tehran would be “hit very hard.” He subsequently went further, saying that he personally believes Iran was behind the attack.

Speaking with Avi Mimran, Gilboa warned that statements of that nature carry consequences beyond simply identifying a possible suspect.

“The moment you say that Iran is involved, it means that Israel has to act against Iran. So he doesn’t always think two steps ahead or three steps ahead, and it’s not good that he does this,” Gilboa said.

Gilboa also discussed the attention the attempted attack has received in the United States, saying the incident immediately evoked memories of the Sept. 11 attacks, particularly United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against the terrorists who had hijacked the aircraft.

The comparison, he said, reflects the extent to which the attempted attack on the Flydubai flight is being viewed as a threat with implications extending well beyond Israel.

Gilboa also addressed concerns about foreign interference in Israel’s upcoming election. He noted that countries including Russia, Iran, China and North Korea have previously been accused of trying to influence political processes in other countries through online operations, disinformation and other methods.

At the same time, Gilboa stressed that he has no information at present that would allow him to determine whether foreign governments are currently attempting to interfere in Israel’s election or what methods they might be using.

He said Trump appears reluctant to become overly involved in Israeli electoral politics and argued that both Israel and the United States should refrain from intervening in each other’s domestic political affairs.

Gilboa also addressed the escalating fighting in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia is backing a major campaign against the Houthis aimed at restoring areas surrounding the strategically critical Bab el-Mandeb Strait to the control of Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

Forces aligned with the Yemeni government and backed by Saudi Arabia have launched a broad offensive in the area amid heavy airstrikes against Houthi positions.

The discussion comes as the Flydubai incident continues to expose questions surrounding Israel’s procedures for screening foreign airline personnel.

During a Knesset discussion Tuesday, lawmakers were told that 1,240 airline crew members carrying passports from countries that do not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel have entered the country since the beginning of the year.

The revelation has added urgency to efforts to overhaul the screening process following the Flydubai attack, with Israeli officials now moving toward requiring flight crews from designated high-risk countries to submit their information for security vetting 48 hours before operating flights to Israel.

{Matzav.com}

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri attended a memorial and appreciation ceremony Wednesday honoring United Hatzalah volunteers on the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre, Kikar H’Shabbat reported.

The event honored the extraordinary courage and dedication of hundreds of United Hatzalah volunteers who were among the first responders to operate in the Gaza border communities under heavy attack, saving the lives of countless civilians and soldiers.

“I came here to recognize your tremendous contribution to Am Yisrael,” Deri said. “You saved the lives of many civilians while risking your own lives. Mossad chief Roman Gofman told me that the Chareidi Hatzalah volunteers saved his life on October 7.”

“The work of the organization’s volunteers on October 7, as well as their daily work throughout the country saving lives without distinction, is a testament to the spirit of mutual responsibility and mesirus nefesh that characterizes Am Yisrael.”

Gofman was the commander of an IDF base in the Negev during the October 7 massacre. He rushed into battle against the Hamas terrorists and was seriously wounded in a gun battle outside Sderot.

United Hatzalah president and founder Eli Beer tearfully recalled the harrowing events of that day: “In those difficult moments, when no civilian organization could enter other than the security forces, United Hatzalah volunteers ran straight into the fire and risked their lives to save others,” he said. “They treated hundreds of wounded people, soldiers and civilians alike, under relentless gunfire. Among those they saved was Mossad chief Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, whose life was saved thanks to the resourcefulness of our volunteers in the field.”

United Hatzalah president and founder Eli Beer speaks at the event.

Beer also revealed a humanitarian initiative that took place behind the scenes: At the request of Rabbi Aryeh Deri and his wife, Yaffa, he arranged a meeting between the mothers of hostages Omer Shem Tov and Sasha Trufanov and philanthropist Dr. Miriam Adelson, who has significant influence in the United States, in an effort to assist in securing the return of their sons.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

The following is an ‘Ask The Mayor’ question submitted to TLS, and the Mayor’s response. Email your questions for the Mayor to [email protected].

Question:

Hi,

When driving every morning down cedar bridge I need to make a left turn onto swarthmore and I can wait up until 10 minutes to turn. Can you please put a left turn signal by that intersection?

Thanx for all your help!

Response from Mayor Coles:

Good afternoon. I wish I could. My business was located in Swarthmore for 25 years. I am very familiar with this concern. Cedarbridge is a county road so any project requires their buy in. The good news is that the county is receiving a federal grant to reconstruct all the intersections on Cedarbridge from 88 to Airport Rd. And a turn lane and signal was in the initial plans.

Thanks

Ray

—————–

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

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

A senior Iranian official rejected Washington’s demand that Tehran substantially reduce its uranium enrichment capabilities, declaring that recognition of Iran’s claimed right to enrich uranium remains a “red line” that the regime will not surrender, Reuters reported Wednesday.

The official was responding to Vice President JD Vance, who said Iran would need to demonstrate a meaningful reduction in its enrichment capabilities for an agreement ending the war to become possible.

The Iranian official said no direct U.S.-Iran negotiations over the nuclear program have taken place and insisted Washington would first have to satisfy Tehran’s conditions before nuclear negotiations could begin.

While Iran is refusing to negotiate away what it describes as its fundamental right to enrichment, the official indicated that the specific level and details of enrichment could eventually be discussed.

The dispute goes directly to one of the central issues separating Washington and Tehran as the Trump administration seeks an agreement that would prevent Iran from rebuilding a nuclear weapons capability following months of war.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Following an uproar, the IDF reversed its decision Wednesday and will allow Hesder soldiers in the Golani Brigade to leave a memorial ceremony before women begin singing, hours after they were initially told they could not skip any portion of the event for religious reasons, Arutz Sheva reported.

Under the revised arrangements, Hesder soldiers will be seated at the edge of the stands and permitted to leave in an orderly manner before the women’s singing begins. The Hesder platoon will also be exempt from participating in the honor guard, and a planned female solo performance has been canceled.

Women will appear on stage alongside men only during the singing of “Hatikvah” at the conclusion of the ceremony, as part of a general performance involving all participants.

The changes were approved by the commander of the Golani Training Base following efforts by the base’s rabbi, Capt. Rabbi Uri Levy.

The reversal came just hours after Rabbi Levy informed soldiers that the IDF’s Joint Service regulations did not allow them to skip an official state ceremony because of women singing or their religious observance.

Following the reversal, the “Wives of Soldiers for the Kedushas HaMachaneh” organization welcomed the change but called for the accommodation to be extended to all religious soldiers.

“This is the beginning of a tikkun,” the organization said. “It is important to allow every soldier to maintain his way of life, not only Hesder soldiers.”

“The IDF is a Jewish army, and the kedushas hamachaneh is a fundamental value that is the responsibility of the Military Rabbinate and commanders.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)