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Senior Homeland Security officials on Friday forcefully disputed viral allegations that Immigration and Customs Enforcement used a young child as leverage to capture his father during an arrest in Minnesota earlier this week.

According to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations chief Marcos Charles, the 5-year-old boy—identified as Liam Conejo Ramos—was left alone in a vehicle by his father while agents attempted to take the parent into custody as part of a targeted enforcement action on Tuesday.

Charles said the boy’s father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, ran from officers on foot, abandoning his son in the car as he fled.

“One of the officers stayed behind with the child while other officers apprehended his father,” Charles said.

He explained that officers later went to the child’s residence, but no one answered the door or agreed to take responsibility for the boy.

“The people refused to take him in and open the door,” he said, adding that the father ultimately asked to remain detained together with his child.

Both are now being held at an ICE detention facility in Texas. Homeland Security officials said Arias, an Ecuadorian national, was unlawfully present in the United States after being released into the country during the Biden administration.

The department’s rebuttal followed public remarks by Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stevik, who alleged earlier this week that ICE was “essentially using a 5-year-old as bait” when agents arrived at the home.

Stevik also said the father instructed the child’s mother not to answer the door when officers came by.

“Why detain a 5-year-old?” she asked. “You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal.”

Images of the child circulated widely online and were quickly seized upon by anti-ICE activists and Democratic groups criticizing President Trump’s aggressive enforcement of immigration laws, with Minnesota becoming a focal point for the backlash.

“In Minneapolis, ICE arrested a 5-year-old coming home from preschool and tried to use him as human bait,” the Democratic National Committee wrote on social media Thursday while escalating its attacks on ICE.

“His teacher describes him as “a bright young student. These Monsters are sick.”

{Matzav.com}

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes ignited sharp backlash after suggesting that state residents could lawfully use lethal force against masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents if they believe their lives are in danger, citing Arizona’s self-defense statutes.

In a televised interview with 12 News anchor Brahm Resnik, the Democrat warned that Arizona’s Stand Your Ground law could have dangerous consequences if demonstrators confront immigration officers operating with limited or obscured identification.

“It’s kind of a recipe for disaster because you have these masked federal officers with very little identification, sometimes no identification, wearing plain clothes and masks,” Mayes said during the Monday sit-down, criticizing ICE as “very poorly trained.”

“And we have a Stand Your Ground law that says that if you reasonably believe that your life is in danger and you’re in your house or your car or on your property, that you can defend yourself with lethal force.”

Resnik repeatedly pushed back, cautioning that her comments could be read as granting the public permission to open fire on federal agents.

Mayes responded that she was describing existing law rather than urging anyone to commit violence.

“If you’re being attacked by someone who is not identified as a peace officer — how do you know?” she said, adding that “real cops don’t wear masks.”

“I mean if somebody comes at me wearing a mask, by the way, I’m a gun owner, and I can’t tell whether they’re a police officer, what am I supposed to do? No, I’m not suggesting people pull out their guns, but this is a ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ state.”

The remarks came as federal immigration enforcement expands operations across Arizona, intensifying tensions in parts of the state.

Mayes also said her office would pursue charges against any ICE agent who violates state law, referencing turmoil in Minnesota following the fatal shooting of protester Renee Nicole Good during a confrontation with a federal officer on Jan. 7, after she struck him with her vehicle.

Republican Rep. David Schweikert condemned the attorney general’s statements, branding them “reckless.”

“Let’s not pretend this was some careful legal seminar,” Schweikert, a gubernatorial candidate, wrote on X.

“This was the attorney general of Arizona freelancing a scenario where bullets start flying and then shrugging it off as ‘just the law.’ That is reckless on its face. If your job is to enforce the law, you do not go on TV and hand out a permission structure for violence, then act surprised when people hear it as a green light.

“Words matter. Especially when they come from the state’s top lawyer.”

The Department of Homeland Security has accused progressive officials of inflaming tensions, urging them to moderate their language as assaults on law enforcement increase.

Vice President JD Vance echoed that appeal during a visit to Minneapolis, where demonstrations have continued since Good’s death, calling on leaders to “tone down the temperature.”

“This is direct threat calling for violence against our law enforcement officers — this kind of rhetoric is going to get someone killed,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Post in a statement Thursday night.

“Kris Mayes should be thanking our federal law enforcement for removing these pedophiles, murderers, terrorists, and drug traffickers from their communities — not inciting violence against them.”

Mayes faces voters again when she stands for re-election in November.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo instructs agents and officers that they can enter a person’s home to arrest them without a judicial warrant, a move that immigration lawyers and advocates say violates the Constitution.

The memo was included in a disclosure to senators by Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit legal organization, based on information provided by two of their clients, government employees who are not named in the document. It requests that lawmakers investigate its claims.

Several people with direct knowledge confirmed the directive existed but said they did not know whether it was widely shared within the agency.

The policy was issued in May and has been carried out in places such as Texas, the disclosure alleges. The Post could not independently confirm where it has been put into practice.

The memo, signed by Todd M. Lyons, acting director of ICE, gives the agency broad authority to enter homes to arrest immigrants. Officers are instructed that they can use a Form I-205 to force entry into a private residence. A Form I-205 is signed by an immigration enforcement official and authorizes an arrest following a final order of removal.

The memo advises ICE officers and agents to “use only a necessary and reasonable amount of force” to enter the home of someone who has a removal order and does not grant them permission to enter.

In an emailed statement, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin did not dispute the authenticity of the memo and said that every person subject to a Form I-205 has “had full due process and a final order of removal from an immigration judge.”

“For decades, the Supreme Court and Congress have recognized the propriety of administrative warrants in cases of immigration enforcement,” she added.

Under President Donald Trump, immigration officers have been testing their legal authorities and, in some cases, exceeding them. Judges have criticized them for holding immigrants without bond, deporting them without hearings, and now, forcing their way into private homes without a warrant signed by a judge.

Asked about the memo at a news conference in Minneapolis on Thursday, ICE official Marcos Charles said: “We don’t break into anybody’s home. We make entry in either hot pursuit or with a criminal arrest warrant or administrative arrest warrant. The thing to remember is these administrative arrest warrants have been deemed justified by courts in immigration purposes.”

Vice President JD Vance also downplayed any concerns during a visit to the city later that day, saying, “Nobody is talking about doing immigration enforcement without a warrant.” He said seeking an administrative warrant would be “very consistent with the practice of American law” and that he was “sure the courts will weigh in on that.”

But legal experts say officials are conflating two very different things: A judicial warrant is signed by an independent and neutral judge who examines the evidence to determine if it is sufficient to grant the government the extraordinary power to force their way into someone’s home.

An administrative immigration warrant has none of those properties: They are almost always signed by a federal immigration officer – akin to the police – and the legal justification is not subject to review by a judge.

The issue is critical because the Fourth Amendment is supposed to protect people from invasive government actions in their homes, shielding them from unreasonable searches and seizures. ICE’s fixation on warrants stems from years of frustration over officers’ inability to easily arrest someone at home after they are ordered deported. Advocacy groups have long advised immigrants to refuse to open the door for an officer unless they had a judicial warrant, and ICE rarely does for civil immigration enforcement.

Getting a judicial warrant is “a lot more work,” said Nithya Nathan-Pineau, a policy attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, an immigrant rights organization. Preparing evidence for a judge to review is time-consuming at a time when the White House is pressuring ICE to arrest millions.

“While the administration may put out a narrative that there are no rights for immigrants, those rights still exist,” she said. “It doesn’t always feel that way, but we are still protected by the Constitution.”

Whistleblower Aid, which represents the government officials who brought the memo to light, said government employees who flagged the memo consider it “a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment.”

“This Fourth Amendment right is the right that the Supreme Court has said is the greater amongst equals of the Bill of Rights,” David Kligerman, senior vice president and special counsel at Whistleblower Aid, said in a phone interview. He added that the Constitution’s framers were “most concerned, of all the rights, about folks being able to be safe in their homes from arbitrary government invasion.”

“It’s just shocking,” he said. “Every chief executive who’s had the opportunity to enforce their immigration laws has never wanted to come close to this red line. No one wants to degrade this Fourth Amendment right, not in this way.”

According to the disclosure, the memo has not been formally distributed among ICE personnel but has been shown to some DHS supervisors who have passed it on to some employees to read and return.

Ryan Wood, the former assistant chief immigration judge in Minnesota, said the memo effectively gives agents a “license to break down doors” and that there are few meaningful legal remedies available for homeowners or individuals whose rights were violated. He described it as an “unchecked government power.”

“There’s really no consequences when these egregious Fourth Amendment violations happen,” said Wood, who trained scores of ICE agents on how to conduct arrests lawfully. “There’s really no disincentive for ICE other than self-imposed restraints and that appears to be gone with this new memo.”

Attorneys can file a lawsuit to challenge a warrantless arrest and seek the person’s release, as lawyers did in the case of a man from Liberia in Minnesota this month. But Wood said there is not much to stop agents from rearresting an individual with a final deportation order after that process plays out.

The whistleblowers believe new ICE recruits have been directed to follow this policy “while disregarding written course material instructing the opposite,” the disclosure says. They were aware of multiple DHS employees who had faced retaliation for expressing concerns about the memo and one instructor who resigned rather than teach it, it says.

“The highest levels of ICE are, in effect, saying agents should break down your door, ransack your home, terrify your children, arrest or detain you without a judicial warrant,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) said on MS NOW. “It simply means the law means nothing to these agents.”

Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, an immigration advocacy group, called the memo “a flagrantly illegal, unconstitutional policy. … This is a mass violation of basic due process, privacy and constitutional rights by law enforcement.”

(c) 2026, The Washington Post 

{Matzav.com}

ICE’s brief detention of a 5-year-old boy in Minneapolis this week has intensified scrutiny of immigration enforcement practices and renewed questions about how often children are taken into custody when their parents are arrested.

Photos circulating in the Twin Cities showed the young boy wearing a small backpack and a light blue stocking cap while surrounded by immigration agents. The images quickly sparked outrage and speculation online, with some critics accusing Immigration and Customs Enforcement of using children as leverage to apprehend parents suspected of immigration violations.

Federal authorities pushed back against that characterization on Thursday, saying the child was not targeted. According to officials, the boy was taken into ICE custody after his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, ran from officers who were attempting to arrest him, leaving the child behind.

The incident highlights a broader reality of immigration enforcement under President Trump, as a growing number of children — potentially numbering in the hundreds — have ended up in family detention centers alongside their parents amid stepped-up deportation efforts. That population includes families who are in the midst of seeking asylum.

ICE has long maintained that when parents are detained, their children are also taken into custody so families are not separated. Expanding space for family detention ahead of deportations has been a stated priority of Trump’s second administration.

By Thursday, Arias, an Ecuadorian national, and his son were reunited and being held together at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas.

The images from Minneapolis drew sharp criticism from local officials, especially when contrasted with Trump’s comments this week that immigration authorities in Minnesota are arresting the “worst of the worst” criminals.

“This family is following U.S. legal parameters and has an active asylum case with no order of deportation,” local school superintendent Zena Stenvik said Wednesday at a news conference, condemning the arrest of Arias and the detention of his child.

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin disputed claims that ICE had singled out a minor, saying in a statement that “ICE did not target a child,” but instead sought to arrest the boy’s father, “who was released into the U.S. by the Biden administration.”

McLaughlin did not answer follow-up questions about whether Arias had received a court notice to appear or had a final removal order. Immigrants pursuing what is known as an affirmative asylum claim are typically not held in detention during that process.

She added that when a parent is taken into custody, agents ask whether the parent wishes to be deported together with their children or prefers that ICE place the children with a designated safe individual.

“This is consistent with past administrations’ immigration enforcement,” McLaughlin said.

In some instances, U.S. citizen children have been deported along with parents who lack legal status.

Vice President Vance echoed the administration’s position during a visit to Minnesota on Thursday, defending the detention of parents — and their children — during immigration arrests.

“If the argument is that you can’t arrest people who violate the laws because they have children, then every single parent is going to be completely given immunity from ever being the subject of law enforcement,” he said.

Precise figures on how many children are currently held in family detention are not publicly available, as ICE data does not break out those numbers.

At the Dilley facility, an average of roughly 700 people are held at any given time, with an average stay of about 20 days. Another family detention center in Karnes County, Texas, holds about 1,100 detainees on average, with typical stays lasting around 49 days, according to ICE data from late December.

Following earlier court challenges, the federal government agreed not to detain minors — whether with their parents or alone — for more than 20 days.

“All of the research shows that the actions that the administration is doing is very bad for children’s health and children’s well-being,” said Joanna Dreby, a sociologist who has written extensively about how immigration enforcement affects children.

“I think about all the kids in that little boy’s classroom and his school,” Dreby said. “All of the kids in that elementary school are going to be very, very afraid — U.S. citizen kids as well.”

{Matzav.com}

A federal judge on Thursday questioned whether the Trump administration is legally allowed to build President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom, asking Justice Department lawyers to cite a law that gives him the power to do so.

“Where do you see the authority for the president to tear down the East Wing and build something in its place?” said Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of President George W. Bush. Historic preservationists sued the Trump administration in December, demanding a halt to the project until it undergoes reviews.

Leon criticized the Trump administration for an “end run” around congressional oversight by soliciting private donations to build the planned $400 million ballroom, characterizing the administration’s argument to rely on Interior Department authority as a “Rube Goldberg contraption.”

Leon also repeatedly pressed Justice Department lawyers to explain how Trump had the authority to rapidly demolish the East Wing annex and construct a planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom. He mocked the administration’s comparison of the project to a swimming pool built in 1975 by then-President Gerald Ford that was funded by private donations.

“You compare that to ripping down the East Wing and building a new East Wing?” Leon said. “C’mon. Be serious.”

Leon said that he did not plan to rule on the matter in January but could issue a decision in February. The White House has said it plans to begin aboveground construction of the ballroom in April.

Leon said that regardless of how he rules, he expects the case to be appealed to the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and even the Supreme Court.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit group charged by Congress with helping preserve historic buildings, sued the Trump administration in December, arguing that the White House had failed to undertake legally required reviews as well as obtain authorization from Congress before demolishing the East Wing.

“The president is a temporary resident of the White House. He’s not the landlord,” said Tad Heuer, a Foley Hoag lawyer representing the National Trust, calling for a halt to construction.

“He’s a steward,” Leon replied.

Justice Department lawyers argued that Congress had authorized the White House to pursue changes to its campus by setting aside several million dollars in funding and allowing the Interior Department to solicit gifts for national parks. Leon said that the congressional authorization was narrow and limited to matters such as White House maintenance.

Heuer agreed with Leon that congressional approval for a few million dollars a year to update an HVAC system or make minor repairs does not amount to blessing a project along the lines of a $400 million ballroom building.

“Congress does not hide elephants in mouse holes,” he told the judge.

Yaakov Roth, a Justice Department lawyer arguing the case, told Leon that construction could not be halted, citing national security reasons.

“It can’t be divided out that way,” Roth said.

The hearing, which was attended by Joshua Fisher, a White House senior official helping oversee the ballroom, and other administration officials, came hours after Trump’s handpicked arts commissioners met to discuss the planned ballroom. That panel’s new leader raised several questions about its size and design but indicating he favors the controversial project.

“It’s an important thing to the president. It’s an important thing to the nation. We all know it,” said Rodney Mims Cook Jr., the newly elected chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts. He added that there was a clear need to create a permanent space where presidents could host large events. “I think that that is our charge … [to] take care of what the president wants us to do.”

The Commission of Fine Arts is one of two federal panels set to review the proposed ballroom’s design, effect on the city’s historic views and other aspects of urban planning. The White House has said it hopes to obtain approval from the panels in the next two months, a far faster review process compared with other large projects that have sometimes needed years.

Both the Commission of Fine Arts and the other panel, the National Capital Planning Commission, are now led by Trump appointees after the president removed members named by the Biden administration. The Commission of Fine Arts’ new members include James McCrery II, who served as Trump’s first architect on the planned White House ballroom, and Cook, a developer and designer who served on the commission during the first Trump administration before being removed by President Joe Biden.

Shalom Baranes, chief architect of the White House ballroom project, on Thursday largely reprised a presentation he gave to the planning commission earlier this month, detailing the nearly 90,000-square-foot building and the 22,000-square-foot ballroom inside.

The Trump administration argued that administrations have long needed a larger space to entertain VIP guests like foreign dignitaries and cultural icons. Josh Fisher, director of White House management and administration, told commissioners that the ballroom will help Trump and future presidents carry out their policy agendas by presenting the country in the best possible light.

“It is a stage for democracy,” Fisher said. “It is where alliances will be honored, where cultural achievements will be recognized and where the United States will present itself to the world.”

The arts commissioners raised several questions about the planned project. Cook pressed Baranes on whether the ballroom’s pediment – the triangular arch above the planned portico – could be reduced.

“It is immense,” he said, comparing it to the much larger Treasury building next door and warning of the visual impact as people look upon the White House from the south side of the building. “It’s immense.”

Baranes said the design was Trump’s preference.

Mary Anne Carter, another newly named fine arts commissioner who also chairs the National Endowment for the Arts, questioned Baranes on whether the ballroom offered sufficient protection for the president and asked for updates at future meetings. The arts panel’s purview has historically focused on design matters, not security.

“We all want it to be beautiful,” Carter said. “We also want this president and future presidents to be safe and secure.”

Trump, who has faced assassination attempts, has said he wants the ballroom to be equipped to host a presidential inauguration.

McCrery, having worked on the ballroom, recused himself from the presentation.

The other two new arts commissioners – Roger Kimball, a conservative art critic, and Matthew Taylor, an artist and filmmaker whom Trump installed at the National Endowment for the Humanities last year – did not ask questions.

The Commission of Fine Arts collected several dozen public comments that were overwhelmingly critical of the planned project, a CFA official told the new commissioners.

Baranes said that more details about the project, including 3D drawings, would be coming soon. He also told the panel that he had not begun designing a planned second-story addition to the West Wing colonnade, which White House officials have proposed as a way to balance the two buildings flanking the executive mansion. Whether the colonnade gets built will depend on the results of ongoing structural assessments, he said.

At Thursday afternoon’s hearing, Leon asked whether the ballroom’s dimensions could be reduced, including by lowering its height.

“Would it be possible, architecturally, to go smaller?” Leon asked Heuer, who said any changes to the building’s height could be difficult to implement. Heuer also argued that lowering the building’s height without shrinking its width could result in a shorter, squatter building that would be more visually disruptive than the planned ballroom.

After the hearing, about two dozen White House and Justice Department officials gathered for several minutes in the court hallway. They dispersed when a Washington Post reporter approached.

(c) 2026, The Washington Post 

{Matzav.com}

Lego fans will soon be able to wear the brand’s trademark colorful bricks on their feet.

Crocs Inc. has teamed up with the Danish toymaker in a multiyear agreement, starting with Lego-shaped clogs as it looks to connect with new consumers. Another launch will follow in the spring.

The company, which is looking to recapture sales growth, is positioning the clogs as collectible items for kids and adults, although the first drop will only be offered only in adult sizes. Each will include a “Lego minifigure with four pairs of its own miniature Crocs shoes.” They’ll be available globally on Feb. 16 and cost $150 – well above the price for regular Crocs footwear, which typically run in the $35 to $50 range, with collaborations running up to $70.

“Lego has a very broad consumer base, very similar to Crocs,” said Anne Mehlman, president of the Crocs brand, in an interview. “They have very engaged kids and very engaged adults – a lot of adults have full Lego rooms dedicated, and we do too.”

The casual footwear maker needs a new hit as the rapid growth of recent years fades. The brand experienced breakneck expansion coming out of the pandemic as comfortable apparel gained favor, with revenue surging 54% in 2022. Collaborations with celebrities such as Post Malone and fashion brands including Balenciaga sparked viral interest while Jibbitz – charms that users affix to the footwear – made Crocs customizable, further boosting their appeal.

That momentum has faded, however. Analysts anticipate revenue in the company’s fourth quarter declined about 7.5%, with another slump projected for the following period. Crocs experienced weakness during the holiday period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Second Measure, and the company is struggling to turn around its HeyDude brand, according to research from Bloomberg Analyst Abigail Gilmartin.

The partnership is “a radical move to rebuild brand heat,” Gilmartin said, citing the brand’s past “viral success with some of its more out-there shoe models like the yellow boot a few years ago.”

“Lego’s loyal fan base could be what Crocs needs to reengage with younger shoppers,” she said.

Lego, which will sell the footwear at some of its retail locations, offers a strong partner for Crocs. The closely held toymaker reported record revenue while gaining market share in 2024, according to the most recent data that’s publicly available. It’s building new factories, including one in Virginia, and pushing into gaming and digital toys. It’s not the first time Lego has collaborated with a footwear brand, last year partnering with Nike Inc.

What is Tommy Cash wearing at the EgonLab show??

Crocs and Lego share a common goal “to enable self-expression” and the clog “marks the beginning of a journey,” according to an emailed statement from Satwik Saraswati, Lego’s head of licensing, extended line design and partnerships.

The companies didn’t disclose financial terms of the partnership.

The clog debuted with rapper Tommy Cash at Paris Fashion Week on Wednesday. The collection will be available on both companies’ websites and will incorporate Lego’s brick plastic into the accompanying Jibbitz charms, which haven’t been unveiled.

Crocs is looking to reinvigorate its collaborations while boosting its presence in games and films. It’s also hosting livestreams on TikTok shop and in-person events, such as an upcoming pop-up experience in Shanghai to market the Lego collection. Additionally, Crocs is branching out beyond footwear with products including bags and phone cases.

(c) 2026, Bloomberg 

{Matzav.com}

MINNEAPOLIS – Businesses planned to close, union members to skip work and residents to forgo shopping in favor of marching downtown here on Friday, aiming to mount a significant economic protest against the Trump administration’s deployment of federal agents in Minnesota.

Organizers of the action, dubbed ICE Out of Minnesota: Day of Truth and Freedom, have called for residents to boycott work, school and shopping. Faith leaders, labor unions and business leaders have joined to promote the general strike, which calls for an immediate stop to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in the state, charges for the ICE officer who killed Renée Good and no additional funding for the agency from Congress in the next federal budget.

They are aiming for a statewide pause in “daily economic activity” to call attention to the tactics of federal agents and “show Minnesota’s moral heart and collective economic power,” organizers wrote online. A march is planned for 2 p.m. in Minneapolis, where the National Weather Service warned of possible minus-39 degree wind chill on Friday morning.

The strike and march come during the third week of tension in Minneapolis since Jan. 7, when Good was shot. In recent days, federal prosecutors subpoenaed the Minnesota governor and other officials, all Democrats; a 5-year-old was detained with his father in their driveway in a Minneapolis suburb; and the federal government arrested three activists in connection with a protest that disrupted a Sunday morning church service.

During a visit to the city Thursday, Vice President JD Vance – who had previously accused local leaders of stonewalling the federal deployment – said President Donald Trump had urged him to work with local leaders to “turn down the chaos a little bit, at least.”

Thousands of Minnesota residents, including many who do not normally identify as activists, have protested the federal government’s actions in the weeks since the Department of Homeland Security sent agents into the Twin Cities area with the stated mission of removing undocumented immigrants.

Residents and officials in Minnesota say federal agents have gone far beyond that brief, detaining U.S. citizens, pulling people from their cars, appearing to stop people on the basis of race, and using chemical irritants on people demonstrating against or monitoring their work.

Kimberly Case, 64, a Minneapolis native and retiree, braved the 4-degree snowstorm to protest outside the Vance event Thursday. Chase said she had been unable to stomach the fact that her niece and her classmates had been talking about digging a hole in their schoolyard to hide from ICE agents who might come to their school.

“We’re being invaded at all levels of society from kids to old people,” said Chase, who wore a battery-heated vest to fight the chill. “But it’s not working. If anything it’s making our community tighter.”

Court challenges to the Trump administration’s actions are now before federal judges. The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have sued to stop ICE’s deployment in the state, and civil liberties groups are representing Minnesota residents who say federal agents have violated their constitutional rights. A federal judge in one of the citizen suits last week barred DHS agents from arresting peaceful protesters, but this week an appeals court temporarily lifted that restriction while the litigation continues.

After the ICE officer killed Good this month, angry residents began protesting and the administration sent more federal agents to Minnesota, escalating tensions. A week later, on Jan. 14, an ICE officer shot 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg before arresting him and two other undocumented men at their home.

“What we have experienced and are experiencing in the state of Minnesota is not normal,” said JaNaé Bates Imari, auxiliary minister at Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Paul, at a Jan. 13 news conference announcing Friday’s action. “We have witnessed violence over and over again, families being ripped apart, loved ones being torn from their hospital beds, from their workplaces, from their homes.”

The Trump administration has defended its work as arresting criminals it calls dangerous and has characterized opposed residents as agitators getting in the way of the work of law enforcement.

“The fact that those groups want to shut down Minnesota’s economy, which provides law-abiding American citizens an honest living, to fight for illegal alien murderers, rapists, gang members, pedophiles, drug dealers, and terrorists says everything you need to know,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to The Post on the general strike.

On X this week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem claimed without providing evidence that the agency had arrested more than 10,000 undocumented immigrants in Minneapolis. The Post was unable to verify Noem’s number.

“Over the weekend in Minneapolis, the heroes of @ICEgov arrested more murderers, rapists, gang members, and perpetrators of fraud. A huge victory for public safety,” Noem posted Tuesday.

Bates Imari said that the way federal agents have operated has been dangerous and harmful to residents. She said the goal of Friday’s action is for Minnesotans to come together in opposition to the administration’s “swarm” of armed, masked agents in the state.

“We cannot allow this to continue,” she said. “If you ever wondered for yourself, when is the time that we do something different, when is the time that we stand up … the time is now.”

Prayer vigils were planned across the state for Friday morning. Some coffee shops planned to open without doing business to provide spaces for march attendees and ICE observers to warm up, offering free coffee and sign-making materials. One brewery planned to provide free hot dogs all day.

Other businesses said on social media that they would stay open out of consideration for employees’ wages but would donate a portion of their revenue to community nonprofits.

(c) 2026, The Washington Post 

{Matzav.com}

A winter storm covering much of the country and impacting about half the U.S. population begins cranking up Friday. In many places, it will threaten to be not only the biggest storm of winter so far but in years or even decades.

It will first sweep across the southern and central Rockies and east to the southern Plains. By the end of the weekend, it will impact the South, the Midwest, the Ohio Valley and much of the East Coast. A swath of snow from the plains of northeastern New Mexico to New England will deliver a wide zone of 6 to 12 inches. Some areas could see up to 1.5 feet. On the south edge of the snow swath, dangerous ice is expected in parts of the Deep South.

It’s all arriving with and followed by severe Arctic chill.

The Washington Post has detailed the forecast for a dozen of the cities expected to be hit hardest.

Below is a breakdown for several cities expected to be near the heart of the heavy snow band and how the National Weather Service suggests they will experience their largest snowfall in years.

– – –

Wichita

Wichita, in south-central Kansas, is expecting 7 to 12 inches of snow. The last snow of that nature happened in November 2023, when 7.8 inches fell. If the higher end of the forecast verifies, it would be the first time with 10 or more inches since 2013, when 14.2 inches fell in February.

Maximum snowfall in the region may fall between Wichita and Oklahoma City. It could be the snowiest in decades in some of these locations.

– – –

Springfield, Missouri

The recent snowstorm to beat in Springfield is 8.5 inches in early February 2022. If surpassed, the range of next events is 10 inches in early 2011 to 14.3 inches in December 2000.

The forecast in Springfield’s part of southern Missouri was for 8 to 14 inches.

– – –

St. Louis

As the storm shifts somewhat north versus the earlier forecast, St. Louis finds itself with a climbing forecast of 6 to 11 inches.

The city had two storms over 6 inches just last year. At the high end of forecast, it could challenge a 10.9-inch storm in January 2019 as its recent biggest.

– – –

Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington is forecast to get 13 inches of snow. A stripe from Louisville to Lexington and eastward along Interstate 64 is looking at a foot or more.

If 13 inches falls, it will be biggest in the city since one in March 2015 that dropped 17.1 inches there.

– – –

Cincinnati

Cincinnati had a sizable snowstorm this time last year, with 10.6 inches falling. However, the forecast of 11 inches there could move this storm into the top 10 snowstorms for the city if it verifies.

– – –

Pittsburgh

The Steel City hasn’t seen a double-digit snowstorm since December 2020 in a storm that dropped 11 inches. It just missed with 9.7 inches in March 2022.

The storm forecast of 12 inches would make it the biggest since February 2010, when 21.1 inches was tallied during a historic Ohio Valley to Mid-Atlantic blizzard.

– – –

Philadelphia

It has been exactly a decade since Philadelphia witnessed a snowstorm surpassing 8.1 inches. That event was the historic January 2016 blizzard that dropped 22.4 inches.

Philadelphia is expecting about 13 inches.

– – –

New York

Like Philadelphia, the forecast calls for 13 inches in New York.

A typically snowier spot among big cities, the Big Apple has not seen a double-digit storm since February 2021, when a 17.2-inch storm occurred. It appeared it might end that streak with a snowstorm around a month ago, but it trended north at the last minute.

– – –

Hartford, Connecticut

Another snowy city, Hartford hasn’t seen a big one recently. The 13 to 14 inches forecast there would be the largest since 2019. In December of that year, a storm dropped 13.8 inches. The last time Hartford topped a foot was in 2021.

To its northeast, snowy Boston is also looking to end a streak of nearly four years without a double-digit storm. Topping the 23.8 inches in late January 2022 will be tough.

– – –

High-end ice in parts of the South

To the south of the snow swath, a crippling ice storm is anticipated in a broken line from around East Texas to the Mid-Atlantic coast. A few cities face a particularly notable threat.

Tupelo, Mississippi

Tupelo, much of northern Mississippi and a zone stretching from northern Louisiana to south-central Tennessee is staring down a potentially historic ice storm, with an inch or more accretion forecast.

It will be the biggest storm in the region since February 2021, but that event was more snow and sleet. For a freezing rain event of similar nature, look back to 1996 or 1994. The latter dropped up to several inches of freezing rain on parts of the state, leaving some in the dark for weeks.

Georgia to the Carolinas

The worst ice in Georgia to the Carolinas will be tucked just east of the highest terrain of the southern Appalachians, wedged in there by powerful Arctic high pressure moving east in tandem with the storm.

A widespread portion of the multistate region could see half an inch to as much as an inch of ice. A forecast just shy of three-quarters of an inch in Charlotte could make it the worst ice storm since 2002 there.

– – –

Historic cold on the back of the storm

Those who miss out on the big snow deeper in the South will eventually be blanketed by record cold. In areas that receive snow, sleet and freezing rain, it will tend to stick around for a while with plentiful cold to come after the storm.

Dallas

The Jan. 26 record of 12 from 1904 is forecast to be demolished with a low of 7 on Monday.

Tulsa

A forecast of minus-6 on Monday would crush the daily record of 7 that was set in 1963.

Brownsville, Texas

At the southern tip of Texas, a low of 31 on Monday would beat the record of 32 from 1940.

Washington

A low of 5 on Tuesday would break the daily record of 6 from 1935. This would tie for the coldest since 1994 with Feb. 20, 2015, and Feb. 5, 1996.

(c) 2026, The Washington Post 

President Donald Trump on Friday drew attention to a predicted blast of extreme winter weather across much of the United States, using the forecast to once again challenge warnings about climate change.

Posting on Truth Social, Trump cited projections calling for unusually cold conditions across large swaths of the country. “Record Cold Wave expected to hit 40 States,” Trump wrote.
“Rarely seen anything like it before. Could the Environmental Insurrectionists please explain — WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???”

The remarks came as utilities, transportation agencies, and emergency responders braced for a powerful winter system pushing toward the eastern two-thirds of the nation. Thousands of utility crews were placed on alert, airlines canceled flights, and consumers rushed to buy bottled water as forecasts warned of potentially widespread damage, extended power outages, and dangerous cold.

Meteorologists say the sprawling storm could unleash a severe ice event stretching from Texas through parts of the South, dump close to a foot of snow from Oklahoma through Washington, D.C., New York, and Boston, and then usher in an Arctic air mass capable of driving wind chills down to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit in portions of Minnesota and North Dakota.

Weather forecasters cautioned that the destruction — particularly in regions coated with ice — could be comparable to hurricane-level impacts. Roughly 160 million Americans were under winter storm alerts or extreme cold warnings, with many areas facing both hazards at once.

Trump has frequently cast doubt on climate change and has argued that episodes of extreme cold weaken arguments about long-term global warming. In his latest post, he pointed to the looming freeze as evidence, in his view, that climate activists overstate or misrepresent shifts in the planet’s climate.

Climate scientists and meteorologists have consistently emphasized that single weather events, including intense cold snaps, do not contradict the broader trend of rising global temperatures.

Experts regularly stress the difference between short-term weather and long-term climate patterns, explaining that extreme cold can still occur in certain regions even as average global temperatures climb over decades.

Trump’s comments were issued as he continues to campaign while opposing federal initiatives designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

During his presidency, Trump reversed a number of environmental regulations and initiated the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris climate agreement, a move later undone by President Joe Biden.

Meanwhile, weather officials across the country urged residents to keep a close eye on local forecasts, plan for possible power outages, and guard against frostbite and hypothermia during prolonged exposure to frigid conditions.

Depending on how long and how intensely the cold wave lasts, officials warned it could disrupt travel, strain energy supplies, and force changes to school schedules.

Emergency management agencies also advised households to ensure adequate heating, safeguard pets and plumbing from freezing, and check in on elderly or vulnerable neighbors as temperatures plunge.

{Matzav.com}

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called on President Donald Trump to issue an apology following remarks in which Trump suggested that NATO allies failed to fight on the front lines alongside U.S. forces during the war in Afghanistan, comments that sparked sharp backlash across the United Kingdom.

Speaking during an interview with Fox News at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, Trump questioned whether NATO would come to America’s aid if called upon, asserting that allied forces did not fully engage in combat during the Afghan conflict. The comments quickly ignited anger and deep distress in Britain, particularly among military families and veterans.

“We’ve never needed them, we have never really asked anything of them,” Trump said. “You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that, and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”

The remarks stand in contrast to the history of the Afghanistan war, which began in October 2001, less than a month after the September 11 attacks. A U.S.-led coalition launched the invasion to dismantle al-Qaida and remove the Taliban regime that sheltered the group. NATO’s mutual-defense clause was formally invoked for the first time following the attacks, bringing forces from dozens of allied nations into the campaign alongside American troops.

In London, the reaction was immediate and emotional. Starmer paid tribute to the 457 British service members who lost their lives in Afghanistan and said Trump’s comments were deeply offensive.

“I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice they made for their country,” Starmer said. “I consider President Trump’s remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling and I am not surprised they have caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured and, in fact, across the country.”

After 9/11, then–Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged that Britain would “stand shoulder to shoulder” with the United States. British forces went on to play a major role in combat operations, particularly in Helmand Province, until the UK withdrew its troops in 2014. U.S. forces remained in Afghanistan until their withdrawal in 2021, which culminated in the Taliban’s return to power.

More than 150,000 British troops served in Afghanistan over the course of the conflict, making the UK the largest contributor after the United States.

Ben Obese-Jecty, a British lawmaker who served as a captain in the Royal Yorkshire Regiment during the war, said Trump’s remarks diminished the sacrifices made by allied forces. It was “sad to see our nation’s sacrifice, and that of our NATO partners, held so cheaply by the president of the United States,” he said.

The controversy intensified because the comments came from a president who did not serve in the Vietnam War despite being eligible at the time. Trump received a deferment due to bone spurs, though he has been unable to recall which foot was affected, a point that has long fueled criticism.

“It’s hugely ironic that someone who allegedly dodged the draft for the Vietnam War should make such a disgraceful statement,” said Stephen Stewart, author of The Accidental Soldier, which chronicles his time embedded with British troops in Afghanistan.

Trump’s comments were not an isolated incident. In recent days, he has repeatedly downplayed NATO’s reliability while escalating rhetoric over Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, including threats of economic retaliation against European nations that oppose U.S. ambitions there.

His claim that NATO allies would not stand by the United States clashes with established fact. NATO’s Article 5 — the alliance’s core collective defense commitment — has been invoked only once, in response to the 9/11 attacks, obligating all members to assist the United States.

“When America needed us after 9/11 we were there,” said former Danish platoon commander Martin Tamm Andersen. Denmark lost 44 soldiers in Afghanistan, the highest per capita death toll among coalition partners, with eight more killed in Iraq.

The latest remarks arrive at the end of a turbulent week for Trump on the international stage, marked by criticism over his approach to Greenland and concerns about the strain on trans-Atlantic ties. While he later struck a more conciliatory tone after meeting NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, saying they had outlined a “framework” for Arctic security cooperation, the damage to relations has lingered.

For families of the wounded and fallen, the remarks cut especially deep. Diane Dernie, whose son Ben Parkinson suffered devastating injuries in a 2006 land mine explosion in Afghanistan, described Trump’s words as “the ultimate insult” and urged Starmer to confront him directly.

“Call him out,” she said. “Make a stand for those who fought for this country and for our flag, because it’s just beyond belief.”

Responding to her appeal, Starmer said, “I’ve made my position clear, and what I say to Diane is, if I had misspoken in that way or said those words, I would certainly apologize and I’d apologize to her.”

{Matzav.com}

Amid ongoing tensions with Iran, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin reassured the Israeli public on Friday that there are currently no changes to the Home Front Command’s safety guidelines. In a statement issued ahead of Shabbos, Defrin emphasized that the IDF remains fully prepared on all fronts. “Towards Shabbos, I want to say to […]

A new survey paints a stark picture of how Israel’s chareidi public views the current political climate, with an overwhelming majority saying hostility toward them is on the rise amid the ongoing debate over the draft law and intensified public rhetoric.

According to the representative poll of chareidi respondents aired on Channel 14, 93% said they sense an increase in hatred directed at their community in public discourse. Only a small minority reported feeling no change. For many respondents, the sentiment reflects what they described as sustained collective blame and deep-seated animosity they likened to antisemitic-style hostility.

When participants were asked where they feel the harshest expressions of hatred originate, 46% pointed to voters of opposition parties. Another 27% said they primarily experience hostility from supporters of Naftali Bennett. Nine percent attributed it to right-wing voters, another 9% to the media, 5% to the judicial system, and 4% said they were unsure.

The survey also examined satisfaction levels with how Knesset members are handling pressing issues facing the chareidi community. Sixty-four percent of respondents said they are satisfied with the performance of their representatives, while 36% said they are dissatisfied.

Respondents were further asked whether leading rabbinic authorities should instruct the entry of a younger, new chareidi slate into the Knesset. On that question, 48% said they have no opinion, 38% said yes, and 13% said no.

Despite the crisis surrounding the draft law and the withdrawal of chareidi parties from the governing coalition, most respondents said they still identify with the religious-right bloc. Sixty-nine percent reported feeling part of the “emunah bloc” and the right-wing camp, while 31% said they do not.

{Matzav.com}

Knesset member Yinon Azoulay addressed threats, protests, and harassment directed at him in recent weeks during an interview on the Kol Chai program Ossim Seder, hosted by Yisrael Meir, amid the ongoing public dispute surrounding the draft law.

Azoulay made clear that he has no intention of backing down from his position, saying his actions stem from a clear sense of mission. “I listen to the gedolei Torah. They sent me on this mission. Anyone who thinks I am, G-d forbid, intimidated by a protest or by any kind of violence is mistaken,” he said.

He stressed that pressure does not deter him, even when it comes from within the chareidi public itself. “Not from the Peleg Yerushalmi and not from anyone. We act, plainly and simply, according to daas Torah—right is left and left is right,” Azoulay said, adding that personal intimidation attempts will not influence his public stance or conduct.

At the same time, Azoulay drew a firm line when it comes to his family. “I have zero tolerance for any harm to my family. My children are part of my family, and they will not be touched,” he said emphatically.

He explained that while protest against him personally is legitimate, targeting his family crosses an unacceptable boundary. “Anyone who wants to demonstrate, let them demonstrate under my house. Anyone who wants to cause harm, let them come to me, not to my children.”

Azoulay went on to say that he is not afraid of demonstrations or personal threats. “I’m not afraid. I’m a public servant. Let them come and protest and do whatever they want,” he said, while sharply condemning acts of violence and thuggish behavior. “At some point, this ugly phenomenon of people coming to beat others and act violently has to be stopped. There is absolutely no justification for it.”

He concluded by reiterating that his position on the draft law and his broader public conduct are rooted in commitment to Torah values and the guidance of leading rabbinic authorities, and that no external pressure will change that, so long as clear boundaries of law, morality, and protection of family are maintained.

{Matzav.com}

Syrian government forces took control Friday of a prison housing members of the Islamic State group in the north of the country, after hundreds of Kurdish fighters evacuated from the area as part of a recent deal. Syria’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that the government’s prisons authority is now in charge of al-Aqtan […]

Argentine President Javier Milei surprised attendees at the World Economic Forum in Davos by weaving a Torah insight into his address, referencing the weekly parshas hashovua, Parshas Bo, to frame his critique of excessive state power and his broader worldview.

Milei had just завершed a forceful speech championing free-market capitalism and describing the United States as a “beacon of light” for the Western world. From there, he pivoted to the Torah portion of the week, using it as a lens through which to view modern global affairs.

“Parashat Bo describes the moment when Moses confronts Pharaoh, a symbol of the oppressive power of the state,” Milei said.

He went on to explain how the sequence of makos that followed Pharaoh’s refusal to release Bnei Yisrael carried enduring meaning. He noted that when Pharaoh “did not free the Hebrew people… the plague of locusts arrived, which signifies famine. Then came the plague of darkness, which signifies the loss of clarity in decision-making. Finally, the plague of the death of the firstborn, which lays bare the fate of a society that denies freedom.”

WATCH:

https://twitter.com/i/status/2014354188847693897

Milei concluded that the message is directly relevant to the present era, adding, “The analogy to what is happening today in the West is strikingly clear.”

The Argentine leader has consistently voiced strong support for Israel and revealed in 2024 that he has Jewish roots, after his grandfather discovered shortly before his passing that he was Jewish.

During his election campaign, Milei pledged that his first official trip abroad as president would be to Israel, a commitment he fulfilled shortly after taking office.

Last year, Milei was honored with the Genesis Prize, recognizing his outspoken and steadfast backing of Israel at a time when many countries have distanced themselves from the Jewish state.

{Matzav.com}

A municipal enforcement operation in the city of Elad on Thursday led to the seizure and removal of the main beis medrash of a long-operating yeshiva, during which Elchanan Inbal—winner of the “Hakol Hachodosh (The New Voice)” competition and son of the yeshiva’s rosh yeshiva—was briefly detained.

In an interview with Emes News, Inbal described what unfolded at the scene and accused the Elad municipality of heavy-handed, one-sided conduct and a lack of dialogue. He said the institution is a small yeshiva ketanah with a dormitory that has been operating in the city for nearly nine years and currently serves about 40 students. “This is the yeshiva of my father, Rabbi Yaron Inbal, who has been active in Elad for 25 years as a mechanech and community leader. For two years we’ve been trying to speak with the municipality, to meet and reach an arrangement, and they simply ignore us,” he said.

According to Inbal, the yeshiva followed accepted procedures over the years and submitted requests for formalization in the past. “We submitted a first request, a second request—the process was moving forward. Since the new mayor took office, nothing has moved. No one in the complex received permits, but for some reason they chose to act only against us.”

He added that the compound includes five other yeshivos and additional mosdos, some of them significantly larger. “There are six yeshivos there, some with hundreds of students. Each occupies four to six dunams. If this is really about a road alignment, why act against only one yeshiva?”

Municipal officials, for their part, said the issue involved the placement of structures without an authorized allocation and an encroachment on land designated for infrastructure. Inbal rejected that claim. “They’ve been talking about this road for ten years. If they want to regulate it, talk to us. Come and say: You have an alternative plot. There’s a solution. But they don’t talk. They just demolish.”

During the operation, the yeshiva’s central beis medrash—an edifice that Inbal said had stood on the site for about two years—was seized and removed. “It was a proper, well-invested, beautiful beis medrash. That was taken entirely. The other structures—trailers used as a dining hall, classrooms, kitchen, and restrooms—have remained for now,” he said.

Regarding his detention, Inbal said, “I was detained while trying to stop the demolition. In the end I was released, and I was told, ‘אשריך שנתפסת על דברי תורה – Blessed are you for being seized over matters of Torah.’ They understood there was no criminal offense here.”

Looking ahead, Inbal said no final decision has yet been communicated by the municipality and expressed hope for a change in approach. “We hope the Elad municipality will come to its senses and choose dialogue over force. This is a place of Torah, students, an entire community. It’s not something you erase with a truck.”

In a statement responding to residents’ inquiries, the Elad municipality said: “The removal activity currently being carried out in the area of the Maran Road exit is intended to clear a structure that was placed there illegally. The structure blocks the planned route of the city’s new exit road, and its removal is necessary to begin paving work expected to start soon for the benefit of residents. It is important to clarify: this is not an evacuation of a yeshiva.”

{Matzav.com}

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the future of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region will be a key focus as negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States meet in Abu Dhabi on Friday for talks to end Russia’s nearly four-year full-scale invasion. The three-way talks come hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the settlement in Ukraine with U.S. […]

Members of Israel’s State Comptroller Oversight Committee toured the Negev and held a professional briefing near the Sdeh Brir site, as opposition mounts to plans for phosphate mining that critics warn could endanger public health across the region.

The visit, led by committee chair Alon Schuster, followed a prior committee discussion seeking an opinion from the State Comptroller on the government’s policy regarding phosphate extraction at the site. Participating in the tour were Knesset members, leaders from Bedouin communities in the area, Arad Mayor Yair Maayan, and Arad city council members Yitzchak Gordon and Chaim Tzinterboim.

Committee members toured open areas adjacent to the proposed mining zone, observing firsthand the scale of the land involved and its proximity to residential neighborhoods and educational institutions. Following the field visit, lawmakers convened a formal committee session at the Al-Fura’a School complex, which sits near the planned mining area and operates under the authority of the Arad municipality. During the meeting, officials were presented with assessments indicating that more than 100,000 residents—including students in nearby schools—could be affected if the mining project moves forward.

The tour and hearing were conducted against the backdrop of claims raised in earlier committee deliberations that the mining plan is being advanced in contradiction to a 2022 government decision. That decision conditioned any progress on phosphate extraction on a comprehensive review of health and environmental impacts.

Schuster said the committee came to the area out of deep concern for proper governance. “In a functioning state, there must be order and responsibility,” he said. “It is unacceptable for discussions and decisions to move ahead on such a sensitive issue without thoroughly examining what it means on the ground.” He warned that the Sdeh Brir project could pose serious health and environmental risks to more than 100,000 Negev residents, citing potential dispersal of hazardous dust linked to severe respiratory illness, heart disease, and cancer, as well as the possible displacement of thousands of Bedouin residents.

Mayor Maayan, who guided the tour, emphasized what he described as genuine coexistence in the area. “Here, coexistence isn’t a slogan. It’s reality,” he said, noting that Arad was the only city to take in Bedouin residents during the war. Questioning the project’s rationale, Maayan asked why, if a mine is truly planned, no evidence has been presented to the Health Ministry proving there is no danger. “Human lives are being knowingly put at risk,” he said, adding that after failures to protect communities near Gaza, exposing more than 100,000 Arad-area residents to a proven health threat is unacceptable.

Maayan also raised concerns about the unresolved status of the Al-Fura’a community, saying its location has yet to be finalized. He called for immediate advancement of planning procedures for the settlement, noting that while the Education Ministry budgeted for a permanent school within Arad’s jurisdiction, the Bedouin Authority declined. “Today there are about 15,000 people in limbo,” he said, warning that it could take two decades to establish a regulated community, during which the population could double. “So where, exactly, is there room for a mine?”

Addressing the issue, Yitzchok Goldknopf said, “All of Eretz Yisrael was shaken this week by the deaths of two infants—and rightly so. Human life comes before everything. So why here, when there is a risk of sudden loss of life and the development of a large-scale health disaster, is there silence? Why wait to talk about it only after a tragedy occurs, G-d forbid? Everyone says this place is dangerous—so how can discussions even continue?”

MK Walid Al-Huashla urged unity, warning against politicizing the struggle. “There are ministers and lawmakers who come here to inflame tensions and deepen the conflict,” he said. “The Negev belongs to all citizens—Arab and Jewish alike. The fight against phosphate mining is a shared struggle, and it must be conducted together, as we live side by side, without sowing division or hostility.”

{Matzav.com}

The recovery of Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul’s remains from the Gaza Strip in January 2025 was, on its face, a rare moment of closure in a war defined by uncertainty, hostage diplomacy and incomplete answers. But newly disclosed details show that the operation unfolded less like a standard military retrieval and more like a layered […]

President Donald Trump warned Iran once again on Thursday, telling reporters during an airborne press briefing while traveling from Davos back to Washington that the United States has significantly increased its military presence in the region as tensions remain high.

“We have a lot of ships going in that direction, just in case. We have a big flotilla going in that direction. And we’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “We have a big force going toward Iran. I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/2014459542612984310

Trump reiterated claims that his intervention last week stopped mass executions in Iran, asserting that hundreds of prisoners were spared as a result of U.S. pressure. “I stopped 837 hangings [last] Thursday. They would have been dead. Every one of them would have been hung. This is like from a thousand years ago,” he said.

Describing Iran as “an ancient culture” with “very smart people,” Trump said Iranian authorities had intended to execute “837 mostly young men,” but reversed course after receiving his warning.

“I said ‘if you hang those people, you’re going to be hit harder than you’ve ever been hit. It’ll make what we did to your Iran nuclear look like peanuts.’ And an hour before this horrible thing was going to take place, they canceled it. And they actually said they canceled it. They didn’t postpone it. They canceled it. So that was a good sign.”

Despite portraying the halt in executions as a positive development, Trump stressed that U.S. military readiness remains unchanged. “But we have an armada, we have a massive fleet heading in that direction. And maybe we won’t have to use it. We’ll see.”

The president also announced that new economic penalties aimed at Iran’s trading partners would soon be implemented. “If you do business with Iran, you will have a tariff of 25 percent,” he said.

A day earlier, Trump discussed rising tensions with Iran in an interview with CNBC, saying, “We hope there’s not going to be further action. They were shooting people indiscriminately on the streets and they were going to hang 837, mostly young people” after he warned Tehran of consequences for harming protesters.

Trump has also continued to address Iran’s nuclear ambitions, saying the country must abandon any pursuit of nuclear weapons. “They gotta stop with the nuclear.”

Earlier in the week, he warned that the United States would respond decisively if Iran carries out executions of protesters or follows through on threats to assassinate him.

During an interview with NewsNation host Katie Pavlich, Trump was asked about reports that Iranian authorities were still burning protesters alive and about recent assassination threats against him.

“Well, they shouldn’t be doing it, but I’ve left notification: Anything ever happens, the whole country is going to get blown up,” Trump said. “But I have very firm instructions: Anything happens, they’re going to wipe them off the face of this earth.”

{Matzav.com}