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Degel HaTorah is expected to demand five of the first eight positions on the United Torah Judaism electoral slate, along with priority for MK Uri Maklev over MK Meir Porush for the first senior position allocated after the election, as negotiations with Agudas Yisroel over a joint run get underway.

Representatives of Degel HaTorah and Agudas Yisroel are scheduled to hold their first formal negotiating session Wednesday evening as the Chareidi parties begin preparations for the upcoming Knesset elections.

The meeting will take place at Degel HaTorah’s offices in Bnei Brak and will formally launch discussions between the two factions over the terms of another joint electoral run.

At the center of Degel HaTorah’s opening demands is the balance of power within the joint slate. The faction is expected to insist on receiving five of the first eight positions, giving Degel a clear majority among UTJ’s highest-ranked candidates. It will also demand that MK Uri Maklev receive precedence over MK Meir Porush when the first senior position is distributed.

Those demands are expected to become major points of discussion as the factions negotiate both the placement of candidates on the electoral slate and the distribution of positions and political influence following the election.

Agudas Yisroel will be represented in the negotiations by Yisroel Drenager of Ger, who will replace Chanoch Zeibert on the negotiating team. MK Meir Porush will also participate, representing Shlomei Emunim and Belz.

Representing Degel HaTorah will be faction secretary Moshe Schiffman and Bnei Brak Deputy Mayor Menachem Shapira, who also heads Degel HaTorah’s municipal division.

Wednesday evening’s meeting was expected to be only the beginning of negotiations between the longtime political partners. Among the central issues on the table will be whether and under what terms the factions continue running together, the makeup and order of the joint list, and how senior positions and political power will be divided ahead of the elections.

{Matzav.com}

In another major shakeup to Lakewood, NJ’s already turbulent school transportation system, the Lakewood Board of Education voted Wednesday night to eliminate courtesy busing for public-school students who live too close to their schools to qualify for state-mandated transportation.

The Board approved a resolution rescinding its previous authorization to provide transportation to non-mandated students, citing the loss of municipal funding that had been used to pay for the service. The change comes just days before the beginning of the new school year and follows more than a week of upheaval surrounding transportation for Lakewood’s nonpublic-school population.

According to the resolution, Lakewood Township informed the school district that it could no longer provide funding for transportation that is not required under state law.

“As such the Lakewood Board of Education no longer has the funds to provide courtesy bussing for the non mandated students in the public and non public schools,” the resolution states.

Under New Jersey regulations, elementary-school students in grades K-8 are generally considered “remote” — and therefore eligible for mandated transportation — when they live more than two miles from school. For high-school students, the threshold is more than 2.5 miles. Students living within those distances are not legally entitled to transportation, although local school boards may elect to provide what is commonly known as courtesy busing.

For years, Lakewood has provided courtesy transportation to public-school students living within those limits, with families not directly paying the per-child transportation charges that have long applied to non-mandated students attending Lakewood’s yeshivos and other nonpublic schools.

That distinction became the focus of considerable attention last week after the Lakewood Student Transportation Authority announced a dramatic increase in the price of non-mandated transportation for nonpublic-school students.

The LSTA initially informed families that the cost for the 2026-27 school year would rise from $385 to $945 per child. The announcement, made only days before the start of school, triggered an immediate uproar among parents and mosdos, particularly families with several children requiring transportation.

The funding picture was also more complicated than initially understood. Local reporting subsequently indicated that the Township’s approximately $2.7 million transportation allocation had been used for courtesy transportation for public-school students, rather than as a direct subsidy of the LSTA fee paid by nonpublic-school families.

After days of negotiations and meetings involving the LSTA, Igud Hamosdos, government officials and askanim, a new arrangement was reached under which the additional payment required from non-mandated nonpublic-school families was reduced to $290 per child. Igud Hamosdos subsequently urged families to opt back into the transportation program so routes could be finalized in time for the opening of school.

The controversy, however, did not solve the underlying problem: Lakewood has lost millions of dollars in funding that had been used to sustain transportation and other municipal services.

Township officials have said the financial crunch intensified after the New Jersey Local Finance Board rejected Lakewood’s request for an approximately $12.9 million waiver that would have permitted the Township to raise and spend additional property-tax revenue beyond state caps. The board rejected the request in a 4-3 vote earlier this month.

The state funding picture has changed dramatically as well. Reporting on the transportation dispute noted that Lakewood received $1 million in discretionary municipal aid in the state budget signed in June, compared with $8 million and $7 million in the preceding two budgets.

Against that backdrop, the Board of Education’s decision means that the loss of transportation assistance will now be felt on the public-school side as well.

The move is particularly notable because courtesy busing has already drawn scrutiny from state education officials. In a filing earlier this year involving Lakewood’s school finances, the New Jersey Department of Education specifically said that the district’s longstanding courtesy-busing policy needed “serious reconsideration,” arguing that district resources should be directed toward the educational needs of its students.

And Lakewood is not the only New Jersey district to eliminate such transportation when faced with budget pressures. Earlier this year, the state education commissioner declined to block Robbinsville’s elimination of courtesy busing for the 2026-27 school year. In that case, the administrative law judge noted that a school board has no legal obligation to provide courtesy transportation and found that the challenger had not shown the decision to be arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable.

Still, Lakewood’s situation is unlike that of virtually any other municipality in New Jersey.

Every morning and afternoon, an enormous network of buses moves children to and from a sprawling array of public schools, yeshivos, Bais Yaakovs, mesivtos and other nonpublic schools scattered throughout the township and beyond. The scale and complexity of the operation have made transportation one of Lakewood’s most difficult and expensive logistical challenges.

The latest decision also appears to resolve, at least prospectively, one of the most contentious questions raised during last week’s uproar: why families of non-mandated nonpublic-school students were being required to shoulder substantial transportation costs while non-mandated public-school students continued receiving courtesy busing without a comparable direct charge.

With Wednesday night’s vote, that arrangement is coming to an end.

But the larger transportation crisis is far from over. The rapid succession of changes — from the $945 LSTA announcement, to the subsequent reduction in the additional fee, to the elimination of public-school courtesy busing — underscores how precarious Lakewood’s transportation funding has become.

And with the 2026-27 school year beginning, the most pressing question is no longer merely how Lakewood will get through the opening weeks of school.

It is how a transportation system responsible for moving tens of thousands of children every day can be placed on a stable financial footing so that Lakewood families are not confronted with another last-minute crisis when the next school year arrives.

{Matzav.com}

The Lakewood and Boro Park communities were saddened by the sudden petirah of Rebbetzin Freida Fried a”h. She was niftar unexpectedly at her home in Lakewood this afternoon.

Rebbetzin Fried was a deeply devoted eishes chayil who stood faithfully at her husband’s side throughout his many years of harbotzas haTorah and leadership of his kehillah. Rav Fried served for many years as the rov of Congregation Bnai Yisroel in Boro Park before relocating to Lakewood, NJ.

Throughout those years, Rebbetzin Fried was an integral part of the life her husband built and the kehillah he led. With quiet strength and unwavering dedication, she enabled Rav Fried to devote himself to his responsibilities as a rov, while creating a home imbued with Torah, warmth and concern for others.

Rebbetzin Fried was a woman of exceptional kindness and generosity, whose concern for others was genuine and instinctive. She possessed a warm heart and was always ready to assist another person, whether through a kind word, a thoughtful gesture or practical help offered without fanfare.

Above all, she was extraordinarily devoted to her husband and family. Her home and family were at the center of her life, and she invested herself wholeheartedly in their wellbeing. Her sudden passing has left her family and those close to her reeling from the unexpected loss.

The levayah was held today at the Congregation Sons of Israel Holocaust Memorial Chapel in Lakewood. The aron will be flown to Eretz Yisroel for kevurah.

Rebbetzin Fried leaves behind her husband, Rav Psachya Fried, along with her exemplary family of children and grandchildren who carry forward the values of Torah, devotion and chesed that characterized her life.

Yehi zichrah baruch.

An Israeli Health Ministry investigative committee has identified a series of serious medical and communication failures in the treatment of a four-day-old baby who died at Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak in November 2022 after developing a severe infection.

According to the recently released report, which was publicized by Israel Hayom, the newborn was transferred to the hospital’s nursery immediately following his birth. Over the ensuing days, a number of signs indicating that his condition was deteriorating were documented, including pain, an elevated heart rate, high fever, crying and paleness.

The committee determined that the medical team failed to diagnose the baby’s infection in a timely manner. It further concluded that, with a high degree of probability, administering antibiotics earlier could have changed the outcome.

The investigation found that the resident physician treating the newborn lacked sufficient skill in handling the situation and failed to pass critical information along to the physician taking over the next shift, who did not come to examine the baby. The senior physician who was on call was also not notified promptly. That doctor acknowledged that he should have been informed earlier and that doing so might have altered the course of events.

Investigators also identified shortcomings in the conduct of the nursing staff. According to the report, the nurses did not insist that a physician come examine the baby despite his condition. The committee found that greater intervention by the nurses could have resulted in the newborn being transferred for monitoring or to the neonatal intensive care unit considerably earlier.

The baby’s parents told investigators that they repeatedly warned hospital personnel that something appeared to be wrong with their son but felt that their concerns were being dismissed.

“Instead of feeling that they were listening to us, we were left with the feeling that our words were being dismissed,” the parents said.

The committee also cited failures in communication among the physicians on duty, nursing personnel and the senior doctor. In addition, investigators found that after the baby’s death, hospital personnel did not hold a comprehensive and organized discussion with the parents explaining what had occurred.

The parents filed a lawsuit in January 2024 in the Central District Court against Mayanei Hayeshua and the head of the hospital’s premature infant and neonatal division.

The hospital has denied the allegations. In its defense filing, Mayanei Hayeshua maintained that the newborn received care that was “flawless and with reasonable skill,” and argued that his deterioration could not have been prevented even with antibiotic treatment.

The lawsuit remains pending.

{Matzav.com}

The Badatz of the Eidah HaChareidis issued a public call Wednesday evening urging avreichim to participate in demonstrations this coming Sunday, when the IDF is expected to hold a designated enlistment day for Chareidi bochurim.

In a letter titled “My Young Men Have Gone Into Captivity,” the Badatz says it has learned that the IDF has designated Sunday as a broad recruitment day for Chareidi bochurim who observe Torah and mitzvos, with numerous young men summoned to appear as part of the military enlistment process.

The Badatz responded by calling on the community to take to the streets and publicly protest the enlistment effort.

“And behold, our strength is only with our mouths, to cry out and sound the alarm,” the letter states, before calling upon “avreichim who heed the word of Hashem and who are able to participate in the protests and act in accordance with daas Torah” to take part.

The letter also urges activists to engage directly with bochurim who may be considering reporting for enlistment and attempt to persuade them not to proceed.

“And likewise, to act in order to convince the young men that their feet should not falter and that they should not cast themselves into a place from which all who enter do not return and do not attain the paths of life, chas v’shalom,” the letter states.

The Badatz indicated that its campaign against the drafting of Chareidi bochurim will continue beyond Sunday’s demonstrations and into the coming period.

“And in the merit of our standing guard over the walls of Yahadus, may we merit a good inscription and sealing, and the fulfillment of the aspiration of our prayers during the upcoming days of favor, that He remove the wicked government from the earth, and You, Hashem alone, shall reign over all Your creations on Har Tzion, the dwelling place of Your glory, etc., with the coming of our righteous redeemer, speedily in our days, amen,” the Badatz wrote in concluding the letter.

The notice bears the official seal of the Badatz of the Eidah HaChareidis in Yerushalayim and was released ahead of Sunday’s scheduled enlistment day, when, according to the letter, Chareidi bochurim are expected to report to the recruitment office for military processing.

{Matzav.com}

Supreme Court President Justice Isaac Amit ignited outrage in the Chareidi community Wednesday after suggesting during a court hearing that many Chareidim who publicly carry kosher phones also privately keep smartphones, prompting Shas to accuse Israel’s top judge of displaying contempt and arrogance toward an entire sector of the population.

Amit made the comments while discussing the use of kosher phones, devices commonly used in the Chareidi community that either block internet access and other content or do not provide internet capabilities at all.

“Many times, those who have a kosher phone in one pocket also have a [regular] phone to stay connected in the other pocket,” he said.

Amit went further, asserting that he had heard that a substantial portion of the Chareidi population maintains two separate cellular devices — one for public use and another with smartphone capabilities.

“They say that a very significant percentage of the Chareidi population owns two phones. One kosher phone to show off, and one real phone, a smarter phone.”

The comments quickly triggered an angry reaction from Shas, which accused Amit of ridiculing Chareidim who deliberately limit their access to smartphones and the internet for religious and family reasons.

“The brazen mockery by Supreme Court President Justice Amit toward kosher phone owners expresses arrogance and detachment from a huge public that chooses to raise children in a protected and pure environment.”

Shas also defended its efforts to preserve the kosher cellular-phone system, saying it considers the ability of religious communities to maintain their standards a fundamental right that it will continue fighting to protect.

“Shas is proud to have led the kosher phone legislation and will continue to protect the right of every community to live according to its faith,” the party added.

{Matzav.com}

New details have emerged regarding an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Yair Netanyahu in Miami, with the son of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu claiming that terrorists acting on behalf of Iranian intelligence reached the entrance of the home where he was staying before the attempt was thwarted.

The allegations were detailed in a complaint Netanyahu submitted to Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levy, Shin Bet chief David Zini and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. Netanyahu is demanding a criminal and security investigation into Haaretz journalist Uri Misgav, accusing him of publishing information online about his Miami residence, his security arrangements and his movements. Netanyahu alleges that the information ultimately reached hostile actors and assisted them in targeting him.

“Following those publications, and relying directly on them, terrorists sent on behalf of Iranian intelligence physically reached the entrance of the home at the address in question in Miami, and carried out a sudden and targeted assassination attempt against Yair Netanyahu,” the complaint states.

According to the letter, Shin Bet security personnel assigned to protect Netanyahu were forced to confront the alleged Iranian terror cell. Netanyahu claims that their quick actions prevented the assassination attempt from succeeding.

Netanyahu’s attorney, Uriel Nizri, is demanding that authorities open an investigation into Misgav and take him into custody, arguing that the journalist’s publications provided hostile actors with a “road map” that endangered both Netanyahu and the security personnel protecting him.

Misgav rejected the accusations and responded sharply to Netanyahu’s complaint.

“Yair Netanyahu/Yonatan Hon and his parents are failing in all the legal proceedings they insist on conducting against me. Just this week, Yair lost another proceeding and was ordered to pay legal expenses. I understand that they are under pressure after the exposure of another fake, this time about the ‘assassination attempt’ and the ‘urgent flight’ of Yair from Miami in December, while in practice, as I showed, he continued spending time in Miami in January and February as well — but it makes no sense to continue bothering the police and Shin Bet with these baseless complaints. They have enough work dealing with real threats,” Misgav said.

{Matzav.com}

Guests attending the wedding of the son of noted philanthropist Mr. Isaac Lefkowitz were greeted by an extraordinary sight this week: a massive genealogy display tracing the ancestry of the chosson and kallah through more than 1,250 ancestors all the way back to Avrohom Avinu.

The wedding was held at Lake Terrace Hall in Lakewood, New Jersey, for the chosson, Chananya Yom Tov Lefkowitz, son of Mr. Isaac Lefkowitz of Boro Park, and the kallah, Risa Zicherman.

One of the most talked-about features of the wedding was an enormous family-tree scroll titled Zer LaChayil, which documented more than 1,250 grandparents and ancestors from both families across the generations.

The elaborate genealogy traced the lineage of both the chosson and kallah back through centuries of Jewish history, ultimately reaching Avrohom Avinu.

The enormous display measured approximately three meters high and 10 meters long — nearly 10 feet by 33 feet — turning the extensive family history into a striking visual centerpiece at the wedding.

The project was created by Reb Yosef Nechemia HaKohen Kwadrat, an artist and genealogy researcher with Kwadrat Legacy Studio in London.

Rather than simply being displayed on a wall, the enormous genealogy chart was incorporated directly into the wedding setup, serving as the mechitzah separating the men’s and women’s sections of the hall.

The unusual display attracted considerable attention throughout the wedding, with guests stopping to examine the names and generations represented across the massive family tree.

{Matzav.com}

NEW YORK, NY – August 26, 2026 – The Orthodox Union (OU), the nation’s oldest and largest umbrella organization for American Orthodox Jewry, today announced the appointment of Rabbi Shmuel Silber to the role of executive vice president. Rabbi Silber will assume his new role as of November 2nd. As the executive vice president, Rabbi Silber will be responsible for representing the OU’s vision on both Torah and public policy and providing hashkafic and halachic guidance within the organization and beyond. The Baltimore rabbi succeeds Rabbi Moshe Hauer, zt”l, who’s petira last Shemini Atzeres left the community in shock. The OU is also clarifying its leadership structure. Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph, currently EVP and COO, will assume the role of chief executive officer (CEO), with responsibility for the management of all OU programs and operations. Rabbis Silber and Joseph will both report directly to the OU Executive Committee.

Rabbi Silber joins the OU having served for the past 23 years as the mara d’asra of Suburban Orthodox Congregation Toras Chaim, building it into one of Baltimore’s most vibrant and dynamic kehillahs. Rabbi Silber is also the founder and dean of the Institute for Jewish Continuity (IJC), which provides contemporary limud HaTorah with Chassidic influences for adults at all levels. As the Founding Rav of the Berger Towers community in Katamonim, Jerusalem, Rabbi Silber oversees the community’s rabbinic leadership and hashkafic direction. Rabbi Silber received semicha from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University and holds a master’s degree in secondary Jewish education from the Azrieli Graduate School.

As CEO, Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph will continue to oversee the management, business strategy, and professional alignment of all OU programs and operations. During his six years at the OU, Josh has driven extraordinary organizational growth in these areas. Rabbi Moshe Elefant continues to lead OU Kosher, ensuring the highest standards of kashrut supervision worldwide. Rabbi Elefant became the chief executive officer of OU Kosher on July 1, succeeding Rabbi Menachem Genack.

The new leadership structure follows the unexpected loss of Rabbi Moshe Hauer, zt”l, last fall, who served as executive vice president since January 2020. Under the joint leadership of Rabbi Hauer, zt”l and Rabbi Dr. Joseph, the OU navigated unprecedented global upheavals including  the aftermath of October 7, with steadfast calm, clear Torah vision, and integrity. Rabbi Hauer, zt”l served as a significant and impactful public voice of Klal Yisrael, testifying before Congress on critical issues like campus antisemitism and advocating passionately in Washington, D.C., with campaigns such as leading the delivery of 180,000 letters to the White House on behalf of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza. His legacy of profound Torah scholarship, extraordinary empathy, and unwavering commitment to the klal will continue to inspire and guide the Orthodox Union’s mission for generations to come.

After Rabbi Hauer’s passing last fall, OU President Mitchel Aeder appointed a search committee chaired by OU board chairman Yehuda Neuberger to advise on the OU’s professional leadership structure and to identify a candidate to succeed Rabbi Hauer, zt”l. With the addition of Rabbi Silber, in partnership with Rabbi Dr. Joseph, the OU has solidified its professional foundation to better serve Jewish communities across the US and Eretz Yisrael.

“I am honored to have this opportunity at such a unique moment for our community,” said Rabbi Shmuel Silber. “Rabbi Hauer, zt”l was a friend and a mentor, and I feel privileged to continue his holy work. Torah and Jewish life are thriving, yet we face difficult communal challenges. My sincere desire is to help create bonds of unity and continue elevating the holiness and religious experience of our community in the US and Israel. I look forward to partnering with Rabbi Dr. Joseph, our President Mitchel Aeder, and the entire OU family to serve the needs of the Jewish people.”

“It is a privilege to assume the role of CEO at this critical juncture. Over the past six years, in partnership with OU Kosher and with the support of the community, the OU has strategically scaled its core programs, expanded the number, reach, and impact of new initiatives and developed an incredibly strong culture of professionalism,” said Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph, CEO. “I am excited to welcome my friend Rabbi Silber to the leadership of the OU as we continue to encourage more Jews to grow closer to Hashem and build sustainable pathways for individual and communal growth across the Jewish world.” 

“The OU is in a position of tremendous strength, and as we look to the future, we want to ensure we have the structure and talent to sustain and expand our vital work. In Rabbi Shmuel Silber and Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph, we are blessed with two world-class leaders who bring complementary strengths to their respective roles,” said Mitchel Aeder, President. “Together, alongside our dedicated lay leadership, they will continue to build a unified, professional, and disciplined institution dedicated to the physical and spiritual needs of our community.”  

“Following the devastating loss of our beloved Rabbi Moshe Hauer, zt”l, we conducted an exhaustive national search to find a leader who could carry on his sacred work of spiritual guidance and public advocacy,” said Aeder. “Rabbi Shmuel Silber is a distinguished talmid chacham who possesses the rare combination of deep Torah scholarship, exceptional character, humility, and a warm, empathetic heart. We are thrilled to welcome him to the Orthodox Union as our EVP and are excited about the extraordinary potential of his partnership with Rabbi Dr. Joseph.”  

About the Orthodox Union

Founded in 1898, the Orthodox Union (OU), or Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, serves as the voice of American Orthodox Jewry, with over 400 congregations in its synagogue network. As the umbrella organization for American Orthodox Jewry, the OU is at the forefront of advocacy work on both state and federal levels, outreach to Jewish teens and young professionals through NCSY, Israel Free Spirit Birthright, Yachad and OU Press, among many other divisions and programs. For more information, visit https://www.ou.org/.

A public exchange erupted among senior Chareidi political figures Wednesday night, highlighting growing tensions over the future of the draft law, potential political alliances and the direction of the Chareidi parties ahead of the elections.

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri addressed the possibility that Degel HaTorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni could align himself politically with former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, saying during an appearance on “The Patriots,” “I don’t believe Gafni will go with Eisenkot.”

Gafni responded by making clear that his political calculations will revolve primarily around resolving the status of bnei yeshivos.

“I will go with whoever resolves the issue of the status of yeshiva students. That is the only consideration,” Gafni said.

Gafni’s declaration comes as the future of the draft law and efforts to secure the status of bnei yeshivos increasingly dominate Chareidi political discussions. Degel HaTorah has sought to emphasize that its future political decisions will be determined first and foremost by which political framework can provide an acceptable solution to the issue.

The exchange then expanded beyond Gafni and the draft issue, with Deri turning his attention to Motti Babchik, a close aide to Housing and Construction Minister Yitzchok Goldknopf, and Babchik’s standing within Ger amid internal discussions surrounding Goldknopf’s political future.

“There is one person in charge in Ger, and that is the Rebbe, who decided that Goldknopf will continue in his position. Babchik is his assistant, so please refer to him that way,” Deri said.

The comments were widely viewed as a pointed jab at Babchik, who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in Goldknopf’s inner circle and has played a significant behind-the-scenes role in Chareidi political affairs.

Babchik quickly fired back, shifting the focus toward Shas and its own spiritual leadership.

“Baruch Hashem, Shas has Maran Rav Yitzchok Yosef, and we all know his position regarding the draft law and his position on Binyamin Netanyahu,” Babchik said.

{Matzav.com}

Chinese state-sponsored hackers penetrated computer systems belonging to some of the most sensitive institutions in the United States — including NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Justice Department and the US Senate — as part of a sprawling cyber campaign that has been operating for years, federal authorities revealed Wednesday.

The Justice Department and FBI announced that they have now disrupted the operation by seizing three internet domains critical to two sophisticated hacking platforms known as QScan and QTRouter. Because those domains were built directly into the platforms and were necessary for their operation, authorities said the seizures rendered both systems inoperable.

Court documents unsealed in the Southern District of California identified the group behind the operation as QTFY, which US authorities described as a Chinese state-sponsored hacking organization operating through Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company, a China-based technology firm.

According to the Justice Department, QTFY provided hacking services to paying customers that included two of the Chinese government’s most powerful institutions: the Ministry of State Security, Beijing’s principal civilian intelligence agency, and the People’s Liberation Army.

The scope of the campaign extended across numerous branches and agencies of the US government. Federal authorities identified NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Energy, the Justice Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health and the US Senate as victims of QTFY computer intrusion activity.

The hackers also went far beyond government agencies. Court filings indicate that the operation targeted or compromised organizations in critical sectors including hospitals, telecommunications companies, power utilities, financial institutions and defense contractors, along with additional targets in the United States and South Korea.

The two platforms allegedly served different but complementary roles in the operation. QScan was designed to scour the internet for vulnerable systems and devices that could be compromised, allowing the hackers to build up a vast collection of infected machines around the world.

Those compromised devices could then be incorporated into QTRouter, an infrastructure that helped hackers conceal where their attacks were actually coming from. By routing malicious internet traffic through compromised devices located closer to intended targets, attackers could make their activity appear to originate from ordinary or legitimate local users rather than from China.

That capability allowed the hackers to disguise their origins while carrying out espionage and computer intrusions against sensitive targets, making the malicious activity considerably more difficult for defenders to identify and trace.

The campaign stretches back to at least 2018, according to the FBI and National Security Agency, which released a joint cybersecurity advisory Wednesday detailing indicators associated with QTFY’s malicious activities.

One of the incidents examined by investigators involved an attempted intrusion into NASA’s network in 2019. According to an FBI affidavit, the hackers attempted to exploit a vulnerability in the space agency’s systems, but the attack failed because NASA had already installed a patch correcting the weakness.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said the takedown was part of a broader federal campaign aimed at dismantling Chinese government-backed cyber infrastructure targeting American institutions.

“Federal law enforcement investigated and disabled the PRC’s malicious software, the latest in a series of technical operations to dismantle indiscriminate hacking activities sponsored by the People’s Republic of China,” Blanche said.

“State-sponsored malicious hackers preying on America’s critical infrastructure will be stopped and prosecuted. We are here to ensure security for the American people and will use every tool we have to keep that promise,” he added.

FBI Director Kash Patel characterized the action as the disruption of a global botnet and hacking platform used by Chinese state-sponsored cyber actors.

Authorities have not publicly disclosed the full extent of the information stolen from the compromised federal systems or the total damage caused by the campaign, leaving significant questions about precisely what the hackers were able to access.

Wednesday’s operation is the latest in a series of aggressive US actions against Chinese-linked hacking networks. In 2025, the FBI removed PlugX surveillance malware from more than 4,000 American computers after they were infected by the Chinese state-sponsored group known as Mustang Panda.

A year earlier, federal authorities dismantled a botnet containing hundreds of thousands of compromised internet-connected devices that officials said the Chinese-linked Flax Typhoon group had made available to Chinese government customers.

And in 2023, the FBI disrupted another botnet used by the Chinese state-sponsored Volt Typhoon hacking group to conceal cyber operations targeting critical infrastructure in the United States and other countries.

The latest revelations underscore growing US concerns over China’s use of private technology companies and contractors to conduct or facilitate cyberespionage on behalf of Beijing’s intelligence and military services.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Wednesday’s announcement. Beijing has repeatedly denied US allegations that it sponsors malicious hacking operations.

{Matzav.com}

Mayor Zohran Mamdani maintained Wednesday that New York City’s new pied-à-terre tax will generate $500 million annually, even as city officials have dramatically reduced the number of properties potentially subject to the controversial levy.

“We continue to be confident in that assessment of what the annual revenue will look like,” Mamdani told reporters Wednesday.

His comments came after the city disclosed that the Department of Finance is sending revised notices to 10,800 property owners who must demonstrate that their New York City residences are their primary homes.

That figure represents a substantial drop from the approximately 17,000 notices initially mailed by the Department of Finance when the city began implementing the tax on high-end second homes late last month.

The rocky rollout has generated widespread confusion among property owners and prompted a major lawsuit challenging the tax. Court filings submitted Tuesday revealed the reduced number of notices and showed that city officials had once again extended the deadline for affected homeowners to seek exemptions.

The shrinking pool of potentially taxable properties is also fueling skepticism about whether the levy can actually produce the $500 million in annual revenue projected by city and state officials.

Jared Walczak, a senior fellow at the Tax Foundation, said the declining number of properties raises legitimate questions about the reliability of the original estimate.

“When you have a tax base that starts with 17,000 and continues removing properties by the thousands, there is every reason to believe that the estimate is too high and the city based it on incomplete and overreaching assumptions,” he said.

Walczak argued that officials have enough updated information to revisit their calculations rather than continue relying on the initial projection.

“This is doable — they could do a new estimate with knowledge of homes that come off the rolls. It’s not a hard calculation to make.”

The pied-à-terre surcharge emerged from Mamdani’s broader push for Albany to approve a series of “tax the rich” initiatives aimed at raising additional revenue for New York City.

Gov. Kathy Hochul resisted many proposals to impose additional taxes on wealthy New Yorkers but ultimately worked with state lawmakers to approve the pied-à-terre tax as a measure intended to strengthen the city’s troubled finances.

Under the legislation, the surcharge applies to one- to three-family homes valued at $5 million or more and to condominiums and cooperative apartments valued at at least $1 million when those properties are not occupied as their owners’ primary residences.

When Hochul promoted the proposal during the spring, her administration estimated that approximately 10,000 properties across New York City would be subject to the tax, producing an estimated $500 million annually.

An April analysis by City Comptroller Mark Levine, however, questioned whether the tax would come close to reaching that revenue target.

Levine’s analysis projected that approximately 11,000 properties would qualify and estimated that the city would likely collect between $340 million and $380 million annually — significantly below the $500 million figure.

Despite those projections, both Hochul and Mamdani have continued to stand behind the $500 million annual revenue estimate.

Pressed Wednesday about why the number of potentially affected properties had fallen so substantially, Mamdani said the original 17,000 notices were sent before city officials had access to residents’ 2025 income-tax filings.

“That is something that is typically released in February of the next calendar year,” he said. “The state has now provided us with early access to those filings.”

According to Mamdani, the updated tax information allowed the city to narrow the group of property owners receiving the latest round of notices, resulting in the smaller figure of 10,800.

Hochul, meanwhile, has largely distanced herself from the difficulties surrounding the tax’s implementation, maintaining that responsibility for carrying out the new law rests with the Mamdani administration.

The governor also made clear Wednesday that she does not support expanding the concept beyond New York City after some upstate Democrats floated the possibility of allowing municipalities elsewhere in the state to impose similar taxes on expensive second homes.

“I’m not interested in seeing it rolled out upstate. This was specifically intended to help the City of New York get through a financial crisis,” Hochul told reporters following an unrelated event.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance will headline the Republican Party’s midterm convention in Dallas next month, with the two-day gathering designed to showcase the administration’s record, promote GOP candidates in competitive races and sharpen the party’s case against Democrats ahead of November’s elections.

The convention will take place Wednesday, Sept. 9, and Thursday, Sept. 10, with Trump scheduled to appear on both days. Vance will deliver the featured address Wednesday evening, while Trump will headline the convention’s concluding night on Thursday.

The unusual midterm gathering is intended to put the Trump administration’s agenda at the heart of the Republican campaign. The Republican National Committee is billing the event as “a primetime showcase for President Trump’s success, candidates, and causes that have propelled the 2026 midterms to unprecedented focus.”

Republicans are expected to use the convention to portray Democrats as having moved sharply to the left, highlighting the rise of Democratic socialist candidates during the current election cycle.

Each evening will begin with a candidate showcase from 6 to 7 p.m., giving Republicans running in closely contested races an opportunity to introduce themselves to voters on a national stage.

Programming on the opening night will focus on several of the GOP’s major domestic priorities, including tax reductions, healthcare affordability, border enforcement, trade policy and expanding American manufacturing. The program will also feature “workers and everyday Americans.”

The second night will spotlight families that Republicans say have benefited from Trump administration policies, including eliminating taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security. The program will also feature Americans who had been imprisoned overseas and were subsequently freed, along with segments on border security and efforts to reduce prescription drug prices. A tribute will also be held for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Thursday’s program will additionally commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, with relatives of first responders expected to participate in the remembrance.

The schedule released by organizers did not include programming devoted to foreign policy or the war in Iran, which has faced significant public opposition.

Republicans will also seek to energize supporters of the “MAHA,” or Make America Healthy Again, movement. One planned segment is titled, “Chronic Disease & Corporate Capture: Breaking the hold of corporate interests on public health agencies and empowering families to Make America Healthy Again.”

Other portions of the convention will promote proposals prohibiting members of Congress from trading stocks. Trump has endorsed such a ban, even as critics have repeatedly accused him of financially benefiting from his presidency.

“Over two action-packed days, we will take Americans through the defining issues of our Party’s agenda and what is at stake in November,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said in a statement announcing the plans.

{Matzav.com}

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Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused architect of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and three alleged co-conspirators will finally face trial in 2028, a military judge ruled Wednesday, setting a date in a case that has languished for more than two decades.

The decision by Lt. Col. Michael Schrama came just two weeks before the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people and profoundly changed the United States and the world.

Mohammed, widely known as KSM and accused of serving as the chief planner of the attacks, has been held along with three other defendants at the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as the prosecution has faced years of delays and legal battles.

Mohammed has been in U.S. custody since 2003, when he was captured in Pakistan. The lengthy proceedings against him and the other defendants have repeatedly stalled, preventing the case from reaching a full trial despite the passage of more than two decades since the attacks.

Federal prosecutors had pushed for the proceedings to begin much sooner, asking the military court to schedule the trial for January 2027.

Schrama rejected that proposed timetable, instead setting June 5, 2028, as the date for the long-awaited trial to begin.

President Donald Trump’s effort to impose new requirements on mail-in voting cleared a major legal hurdle Wednesday when a federal judge lifted a nationwide injunction against the U.S. Postal Service, but a new lawsuit from nearly two dozen states has immediately put the fate of the rules back in question ahead of November’s midterm elections.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts removed the nationwide injunction that had prevented the Postal Service from carrying out key elements of Trump’s March executive order, eliminating one of the most significant legal barriers facing the administration’s election-related changes.

The decision came just two days after the Supreme Court lifted a separate injunction involving the same executive order. The high court, however, did not determine whether Trump’s policy itself is legally valid.

Instead, the justices concluded that the earlier lawsuit had been brought prematurely because the Postal Service had not yet completed the rule implementing Trump’s directive. The ruling specifically left states free to bring another challenge once the agency issued its final regulations.

That legal opening was quickly put to use on Wednesday.

A coalition consisting of 24 states and the District of Columbia filed suit challenging the Postal Service’s finalized rule, according to Axios. The states contend that the federal agency lacks the legal power to impose the requirements on elections administered by individual states.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro joined the latest challenge, announcing Wednesday that he was suing the Trump administration over what he described as an unconstitutional effort to alter election procedures and limit mail-in voting.

“Donald Trump does not run elections here in Pennsylvania — or in any state,” Shapiro said after Monday’s Supreme Court ruling, pledging that the legal challenge would continue.

The new lawsuit represents a significant shift in the litigation. Rather than attacking Trump’s executive order before the administration had put it into effect, the states are now directly challenging the Postal Service regulation created to implement it.

Trump signed the executive order on March 31, instructing several federal agencies to make changes involving the handling of mail ballots and expand federal involvement in election-related procedures.

Among its provisions, the order instructs the Department of Homeland Security to assemble and provide states with lists of confirmed U.S. citizens who will be at least 18 years old by the federal election and reside within each state. It also directs the Justice Department to prioritize investigations and possible prosecutions involving ballots allegedly cast by ineligible individuals and orders the Postal Service to establish additional requirements governing the processing and delivery of mail ballots.

Under the Postal Service’s finalized regulation, states would face requirements involving standardized designs for ballot envelopes as well as state-specific lists identifying individuals receiving mail ballots.

The Trump administration has characterized the measures as safeguards intended to bolster election security while improving the handling and tracking of ballots sent through the mail.

The states suing to stop the rule contend that the Postal Service has exceeded its authority and that the federal government is improperly inserting itself into election procedures traditionally overseen primarily by the states.

Litigation over the issue began soon after Trump issued the executive order.

Talwani initially blocked important portions of the directive in June. She subsequently issued a nationwide injunction in August barring the Postal Service from putting the mail-voting provisions into effect for the November midterms.

In a separate lawsuit filed by Pennsylvania and other states, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 on Monday to lift another injunction against the administration.

The majority concluded that the states had gone to court too soon because Trump’s executive order had not itself forced them to alter their election systems and the Postal Service had not yet finished developing its regulations.

At the same time, the Supreme Court made clear that states could return to court once the Postal Service completed the rulemaking process.

“If the Postal Service’s final rule harms the States, they may challenge that rule,” the Supreme Court said.

With the Postal Service rule now finalized, the states are doing precisely that, setting up another round of litigation as election officials move closer to important deadlines for November.

Several states are scheduled to begin distributing mail ballots in September, giving courts only a limited amount of time to address the latest lawsuit while leaving election officials uncertain about which procedures will ultimately govern the midterms.

Shapiro has maintained that Pennsylvania will continue using its existing mail-voting procedures for the 2026 midterms while the litigation plays out.

His position highlights the uncertainty that remains despite Wednesday’s ruling. Although the decision removes the current obstacle preventing the Postal Service from proceeding, it does not ensure that Trump’s new requirements will actually be in force when voters cast ballots in November.

Another injunction could once again halt implementation, while subsequent appeals could eventually return the dispute to the Supreme Court.

The rapidly approaching election calendar could also pose practical difficulties for state and local election officials if requirements are altered after ballots have already been prepared or sent to voters.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissenting from Monday’s Supreme Court decision, warned that the ruling could contribute to “pre-election chaos,” arguing that states and voters need certainty regarding the procedures that will apply during the election.

For the moment, the Trump administration has succeeded in removing a major judicial roadblock standing in the way of its mail-ballot initiative.

But with 24 states and the District of Columbia now mounting a fresh challenge to the finalized Postal Service regulations, the fight has simply shifted to a new legal battlefield — and whether Trump’s mail-ballot rules will ultimately govern the November midterms remains unresolved.

{Matzav.com}

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sharply pushed back against Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro after the Democratic governor accused him of spreading vaccine misinformation, saying Shapiro was unable to provide a single example when challenged and later repeated the allegation publicly.

The dispute erupted Tuesday after Shapiro announced that two unvaccinated Pennsylvania residents had died from measles. The governor accused Kennedy and the Trump administration of “scaring people” and undermining public confidence in physicians and vaccines.

Kennedy said Shapiro leveled a similar charge during a telephone conversation between the two officials, but was unable to substantiate it when Kennedy asked him to identify specific misinformation he had promoted.

“During our phone conversation, Governor Shapiro also accused me of promoting vaccine misinformation,” Kennedy wrote on X. “When I asked him for an example, he was unable to provide one, but this did not deter him from publicly repeating that accusation during his press event.”

Kennedy said he responded by telling Shapiro that the Department of Health and Human Services does not accept misinformation and offered to provide the governor with “hundreds of instances” of what he characterized as vaccine misinformation disseminated during the Biden administration.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Shapiro said Kennedy had contacted him to offer federal assistance as Pennsylvania confronts its measles outbreak. Shapiro said he declined the offer and instead used the conversation to challenge Kennedy over statements he believes have undermined public confidence in vaccination.

“I was very, very blunt with him, and I made very clear that his actions and the rhetoric that’s coming from this administration are having a negative impact on communities across America, particularly right here in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said, according to the Washington Examiner.

“There’s real-life consequences to scaring people and not relying on actual doctors and actual medical professionals to provide unbiased information to parents so that we can make reasonable decisions for our kids,” he continued.

Shapiro went further, accusing Kennedy of “sharing conspiracy theories and misinformation,” an allegation the HHS secretary strongly rejected.

Kennedy said another point of contention during their conversation involved the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and whether concerns surrounding its development could produce religious objections.

“At his press conference today, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro accused me of promoting conspiracy theories because I told him, during an earlier telephone conversation, that some Americans had religious objections to the MMR vaccine because it contained fetal tissue. ‘There is no fetal tissue in the MMR,’ he told me,” Kennedy wrote.

To support his argument, Kennedy cited deposition testimony from Dr. Stanley Plotkin, one of the scientists involved in developing the rubella vaccine, concerning cell-substrate DNA present in MMR II.

“Dr. Plotkin answered: ‘Yeah, that’s probably correct, yes,'” Kennedy wrote.

Kennedy also disputed Shapiro’s effort to connect him to declining vaccination rates in Pennsylvania, arguing that the governor ultimately acknowledged that much of the decrease occurred before Kennedy became HHS secretary.

“Governor Shapiro also faulted me for the decline in Pennsylvania vaccination rates from 97% – 93.2%,” Kennedy wrote. “When I pushed back on this assertion, he acknowledged that most of the decline occurred during the Biden administration.

“It’s unfortunately true that the government lockdowns, deceptions, manipulation, and overreach during COVID severely damaged public faith in the vaccine program,” he added.

{Matzav.com}