The StopAntisemitism channel has granted Swedish “environmentalist” Greta Thunberg the distinct honor of being named as the “Antisemite of the Week.” The honor was bestowed on her following her recent arrest at an anti-Israel rally at Copenhagen University in Denmark. And what was she protesting? The university’s cooperation with Israel, one of the world’s most innovative nations in developing green technology. Thunberg “has joined the ranks of keffiyeh-clad protesters, brazenly voicing her disdain for the Jewish state,” StopAntisemitism stated on Friday. “She has sadly transformed her activism into a platform for vile Jew-hatred.” Founder Liora Rez wrote: “Sadly, Greta’s hatred of the world’s only Jewish nation eclipses her love of the environment. Despite Israel being a global leader in tackling climate disasters and rushing to aid in crises worldwide, Greta sides with their homicidal terrorist enemies. Her actions speak louder than her words. She claims to care about the future of humanity but Greta’s hypocrisy is on full display as she’s been active in championing Hamas leaders who openly call for genocide.” Immediately following the October 7 attack, Thunberg came out in support of the Hamas murderers, somehow tying it to the cause of environmentalism by chanting meaningless and false quotes like “no climate justice on ‘occupied land.'” Her weekly protests for the environment became hate manifestos against Israel, with protesters bearing signs such as “End Zionist Genocide in Palestine.” In November 2023, only a month after over 1,000 Israelis were slaughtered, she chanted “Crush Zionism” together with a crowd at a pro-Palestinian rally in Stockholm. In January, she protested outside the Hague, writing: “Israel – as well as those who support Israel’s brutal attacks and occupation – must be held accountable for their actions. We cannot remain silent during a genocide.” Meanwhile, despite her supposed devotion to environmental issues, Israel is still waiting for her to call out Hezbollah for setting thousands and thousands of acres of forestland on fire and the Houthis for attacking a tanker carrying a million barrels of crude oil, potentially causing the largest oil spill in history. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
Over the past few months, Siddurim at the Kosel have been vandalized with messages calling for the destruction of the state of Israel. It is not yet known who the vandals are.
One message found in a Siddur read: “The land of Israel is holy, the people of Israel are holy, the State of Israel must be erased.”
Another read: “The Devil’s state will be erased for eternity.”
At least 12 Siddurim have been vandalized with these types of messages, as well as pages containing Tefillos for chayalim and the State of Israel being torn out.
The leader of the Libyan Jewish community in Yerushalayim, Rav Levi Nachum, said that a large number of the 70 Siddurim he has brought to the Kosel have been vandalized. Rav Nachum has called for an investigation of security camera footage from the site to identify the vandals before they harm more Siddurim.
In a statement, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation said it: “strongly condemns any act of vandalism against prayer books and is making every effort to eradicate this phenomenon.”
{Matzav.com}
Three weeks after dropping his independent presidential campaign, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has become a ubiquitous campaigner for Donald Trump, urging his own loyal followers to cast their lot with the former president who said he’d give Kennedy a job if he returns to the White House. Kennedy is hitting the road with Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman who’s built her own following on the right. Many of the people who turned out to see them in suburban Phoenix on Saturday night were already committed Trump supporters. A few, like Jacob Cutler, wore clothing from Kennedy’s defunct campaign. An enthusiastic Kennedy supporter, Cutler has embraced Trump as the best person to stop Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate. “I was concerned about what would happen if she won, and so that’s why I felt like I needed to support Donald Trump and help him win,” said Cutler, a 40-year-old who said he voted for Democratic President Joe Biden four years ago. “If anything, the lesser of two evils.” The Kennedy-Trump alliance gives the Republican former president an endorsement from the well-known scion of a Democratic dynasty and the chance to present his campaign as having bipartisan appeal. Even a small number of Democrats moving to Trump’s side due to Kennedy’s endorsement could be critical in states like Arizona, which Biden won in 2020 by fewer than 11,000 votes. Trump’s path back to the White House relies in part on voters who don’t trust institutions like government, corporations and the mainstream media, a group that can be hard to reach, win over and motivate to vote. Kennedy and Gabbard have pull with those voters, who tend to get news and information from podcasts and YouTube videos. Both Trump and Kennedy have vowed in recent weeks to “make America healthy again,” a play on Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” slogan that references Kennedy’s frequent arguments during his campaign that chronic illnesses have become more prevalent among Americans and his boosting of discredited theories about vaccines. At the Trump campaign event on Saturday, Kennedy addressed the members of his family who have criticized his embrace of Trump. “I feel like people — including family members who have turned against me, my old friends who look at me with disdain and condemnation — that they’re victims of a kind of hypnosis and a psyop and an orchestrated effort to divide us from each other,” Kennedy told the crowd at Arizona Christian University. “Those of us who are awake need to protect the things that are valuable in this country without going after them until they wake up and see what we’ve done for them.” Partisans who switch sides often carry extra weight, picking up reverence from activists who once condemned them. They can become sought-after surrogates and trusted messengers. “It’s a huge, huge addition to Trump’s team,” Henry Slayton, a 62-year-old engineer from Bakersfield, California, said of Kennedy and Gabbard. “It shows you they’re all for the citizens, they’re for the American people, not out for themselves.” Harris has her own coalition of strange bedfellows, including a son of former Republican presidential candidate John McCain and prominent members of former President George W. Bush’s administration. Progressives have even found themselves cheering Bush’s vice president, Dick Cheney, for endorsing Harris, a head-spinning change […]
Hamas and the Houthis have recently established offices in Iraq. The offices, which opened in June, testify to Iraq’s shift towards the Iranian camp in Tehran’s conflict with Israel and the United States.
Since the U.S. military invasion to remove Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein 21 years ago, the country has maintained an “uneasy balance” between its Iranian neighbor and America, The New York Times reported on Sunday. That balance has increasingly turned in Iran’s favor as Tehran has funded sympathetic forces inside Iraq as part of its effort to build an unbroken arc of Shi’ite power stretching west to Lebanon and south to Yemen.
The Hamas representative in Baghdad is Mohammed al-Hafi, a member of the terrorist group’s bureau for Arab and Islamic Relations. The Houthi representative in Iraq is Abu Idris al-Sharafi. He has received an especially warm reception in Iraq, the Times said.
The two offices are a concrete indication of the transformation of Iraqi politics since Hussein’s ouster. He suppressed Islamic movements, whether Sunni or Shi’ite, viewing them as a threat to his power. Shi’ites were exiled, imprisoned or executed.
Today, Shi’ite parties dominate Iraqi politics, and Iran has pushed Iraq’s government to recognize Shi’ite militias. (The Hamas representative’s security detail is provided by one such militia, Kata’ib Hezbollah, the Times noted.) Shi’ite forces have formed political parties, gaining enough seats in the 2021 election to select the prime minister.
Faced with the Shi’ite’s rise, Iraq’s leadership could do little but agree when Hamas and the Houthis requested to open offices.
“Some Iraqi government officials, according to two of the people who spoke to The New York Times, say privately they are not thrilled about their new guests but did not have the power to block them given the sway of the Iraqi political parties with ties to Iran,” the paper reported.
Officially, Iraq has denied a move towards Iran.
Thomas Juneau, a professor of international relations at the University of Ottawa, told the Times that Iran wants its proxies to coordinate more closely. There is “a growing institutionalization of relations between Iran’s partners in the Axis of Resistance,” he said.
Tehran has created a joint operation room and held regular meetings to bring proxy leaders together. “Iran has appeared to encourage its proxies from different countries to share military skills and even coordinate on targets,” the Times reported.
These efforts have “intensified” since Oct. 7, Juneau said.
Rashid al-Azzawi, chairman of the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni Islamist party, said the war in Gaza has won sympathy for Hamas from Iraqis across all religions. Hamas is seen as fighting for “a humanitarian cause,” he stated.
(JNS)
Salvagers successfully towed a Greek-flagged oil tanker ablaze for weeks after attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels to a safe area without any oil spill, a European Union naval mission said Monday. The Sounion reached waters away from Yemen as the Houthis meanwhile claimed that they shot down another American-made MQ-9 Reaper drone, with video circulating online showing what appeared to be a surface-to-air missile strike and flaming wreckage strewn across the ground. The two events show the challenges still looming for the world as it tries to mitigate a monthslong campaign by the rebels over the Israel-Hamas war raging in the Gaza Strip. While the rebels allowed the Sounion to be moved, they continue to threaten ships moving through the Red Sea, a waterway that once saw $1 trillion in goods move through it a year. The EU naval mission, known as Operation Aspides, issued a statement via the social platform X announcing the ship had been moved. The Sounion “has been successfully towed to a safe area without any oil spill,” the EU mission said. “While private stakeholders complete the salvage operation, Aspides will continue to monitor the situation.” The Houthis had no immediate comment and it wasn’t clear where the vessel was, though it likely was taken north away from Yemen. Salvagers still need to offload some 1 million barrels of crude oil aboard the Sounion, which officials feared could leak into the Red Sea, killing marine life and damaging corals in the waterway. Meanwhile, the U.S. military said it was aware of the Houthis’ claimed downing of a drone over the country’s southwestern Dhamar province, without elaborating. The Houthis have exaggerated claims in the past in their ongoing campaign targeting shipping in the Red Sea over the Israel-Hamas war. However, the online video bolstered the claim, particularly after two recent claims by the Houthis included no evidence. Other videos showed armed rebels gathered around the flaming wreckage, a propeller similar to those used by the armed drone visible in the flames. One attempted to pick up a piece of the metal before dropping it due to the heat. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesperson, identified the drone as an MQ-9, without elaborating on how he came to the determination. He said it was the third downed by the group in a week, though the other two claims did not include similar video or other evidence. The U.S. military similarly has not acknowledged losing any aircraft. Saree said the Houthis used a locally produced missile. However, Iran has armed the rebels with a surface-to-air missile known as the 358 for years. Iran denies arming the rebels, though Tehran-manufactured weaponry has been found on the battlefield and in seaborne shipments heading to Yemen despite a United Nations arms embargo. Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land. The aircraft have been flown by both the U.S. military and the CIA over Yemen for years. The Houthis have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones […]
Former President Donald Trump, who enjoys widespread support among Orthodox Jews and Chasidim, is scheduled to visit the Williamsburg neighborhood on Thursday, sources within the NYPD confirmed to YWN. The upcoming visit, which has already sparked significant attention, includes a planned stop at Gottlieb’s Restaurant, a well-known kosher eatery located at Roebling Street and Division Avenue. Secret Service agents were spotted conducting advance preparations at the restaurant, a common procedure ahead of a presidential or high-profile visit. This meticulous planning is key to ensuring the safety and security of the President during public appearances. When the President of the United States visits a location like a restaurant, the Secret Service undertakes an exhaustive process to secure the area and mitigate potential risks. The advance work, often conducted 2 to 7 days prior to the visit, involves an initial team of Secret Service agents who inspect the venue for any vulnerabilities. This includes reviewing floor plans, emergency exits, and thoroughly examining all areas of the restaurant, from the kitchen to dining spaces. As part of this process, restaurant staff undergo background checks, and sharp objects or other potential hazards are removed or secured. Temporary security measures, such as metal detectors and surveillance cameras, are installed, ensuring the location is well-monitored and secure. Local law enforcement and emergency services are also brought into the fold, coordinating communication protocols for the day of the visit. Beyond securing the physical space, the Secret Service engages in protective intelligence gathering, monitoring for any potential threats, protests, or demonstrations that could disrupt the visit. Local and national intelligence reports are reviewed to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the situation on the ground, and contingency plans are developed to prepare for any unforeseen events. Logistical preparations are equally critical. The Secret Service arranges secure transportation and parking for the President’s motorcade and ensures that emergency medical response teams are on standby. In some cases, a dry run is conducted to iron out any potential issues before the actual visit. On the day of the visit, Secret Service agents will secure the perimeter of Gottlieb’s Restaurant and surrounding areas. Patrons and staff will be screened before being allowed inside, and agents will escort the President in and out of the restaurant, ensuring a secure environment throughout the visit. The restaurant staff will be briefed on security protocols, working closely with Secret Service personnel to maintain a seamless experience during the President’s time in Williamsburg. The extensive advance preparations reflect the Secret Service’s commitment to providing top-tier protection, allowing the President to engage with the public while maintaining security at all times. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Almost two months after Israel carried out a major attack on Yemen’s Hodeidah port in retaliation for the Houthis’ launch of a drone that struck Tel Aviv, it is still disabled, the Jerusalem Post reported on Monday, quoting expert Eran Efrat. The Houthis promised to retaliate for Israel’s attack of its port but b’chasdei Hashem, their attempt on Sunday left no injuries. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate again for the Houthis’ newest attempt to harm Israelis. Efrat is an entrepreneur who imports raw materials for the green energy industry and is familiar with shipping routes and cargo ships. He began monitoring the damage at the port out of his own curiosity and as his interest grew, he began publishing his conclusions for the public (in Hebrew). “Ship tracking tools are as accurate as aircraft tracking, and they are free to use as well, except for some premium features,” Efrat explained. “Every ship is registered, and its route is well documented, along with sailing times, documents, and any information that doesn’t qualify as a commercial secret.” “Already back then I claimed that following a bombardment of a fuel terminal, assuming that pipelines and fuel tanks were damaged as well, a long time would be needed to fix everything,” he said, explaining that establishing such infracture is a complex undertaking. “A month after the retaliatory attack I saw that there were no listed tankers transporting fuel or liquefied gas in Al-Hodeidah, which I concluded from the list of ships scheduled to moor in the port. Additionally, the port has issued an official notice to ships calling them not to arrive. For me, this was a main indicator that they were not able to receive oil and liquid gas, both of which were part of the infrastructure of Al-Hodeidah. We also saw that cranes were damaged, and therefore the unloading was carried out more slowly using either the ships’ cranes or mobile cranes, which are much smaller.” “The economic damage is immense,” Efrat continued. “I calculated according to the size of the tanks – they were able to store about 40-50 thousand tons. I found that they lose about 50 thousand tons of oil and liquid gas every 48 hours or so. This is based on how often the ships would dock and how large those containers were.” “I also checked tankers to check if there is an improvement in the unloading of containers according to ships that dock and leave. You can see the size of the ship and guess how long it takes to unload. If you leave after 24 hours or more, you know that the capacity is not high, especially when you compare it to a year ago, and you see that ships would enter and leave several times a day. “According to my calculation, this means that the port is running at 30% of its original capacity.” A month later, Efrat noticed that no new calls for tankers to dock at the port were issued, until at least until September 21. “This means two or three months that the port will be shut.” Efrat said that the Houthis are now using an alternative port, the primitive and formally closed Ras Isa port. “Take a look at the tanker Lady Amira 1,” he said. “This is […]
A family of three, including a 17-year-old girl, lost their lives in a tragic accident on the Garden State Parkway on Shabbos.
The Tesla Model S driven by the family veered off the northbound lanes of the Parkway in Woodbridge, near the Metropark exit, and collided with a road sign, guardrail, and a concrete bridge pillar, according to State Police Sgt. Charles Marchan.
David Dryerman, 54, who was behind the wheel, along with his wife Michelle Dryerman, also 54, and their daughter Brooke Dryerman, 17, were all pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
Authorities are still working to determine the cause of the accident.
In response to the tragedy, Woodcliff Lake Mayor Carlos Rendo expressed his condolences and ordered all flags in the borough to be flown at half-staff in their honor.
A memorial service for the Dryerman family, identified as Michelle and Brooke by Valley Chabad Jewish Center in Woodcliff Lake, was held Sunday evening. Brooke was a senior at Pascack Hills High School, and the family’s son was away at college.
“We are all shocked and in such pain today,” Rabbi Yosef Orenstein said to those gathered at the service, as reported by the Pascack Press.
Rabbi Dov Drizin, the executive director of Valley Chabad, also attended the memorial.
{Matzav.com}
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed Monday that they shot down another American-made MQ-9 Reaper drone, with video circulating online showing what appeared to be a surface-to-air missile strike and flaming wreckage strewn across the ground. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Houthis’ claimed downing of a drone over the country’s southwestern Dhamar province. The Houthis have exaggerated claims in the past in their ongoing campaign targeting shipping in the Red Sea over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. However, the online video bolstered the claim, particularly after two recent claims by the Houthis included no evidence. Other videos showed armed rebels gathered around the flaming wreckage, a propeller similar to those used by the armed drone visible in the flames. One attempted to pick up a piece of the metal before dropping it due to the heat. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesperson, identified the drone as an MQ-9, without elaborating on how he came to the determination. He said it was the third downed by the group in a week, though the other two claims did not include similar video or other evidence. The U.S. military similarly has not acknowledged losing any aircraft. Saree said the Houthis used a locally produced missile. However, Iran has armed the rebels with a surface-to-air missile known as the 358 for years. Iran denies arming the rebels, though Tehran-manufactured weaponry has been found on the battlefield and in seaborne shipments heading to Yemen despite a United Nations arms embargo. Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land. The aircraft have been flown by both the U.S. military and the CIA over Yemen for years. The Houthis have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels as well. The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the U.K. to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran. Those attacks include a barrage that struck the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion in the Red Sea. Salvagers have begun towing away the burning oil tanker, hoping to avoid a catastrophic leak of its 1 million barrels of oil on board. (AP)
A tragic accident late Saturday night claimed the lives of three members of a Jewish family from Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. The crash occurred just before midnight on the northbound side of the Garden State Parkway in Woodbridge Township, resulting in the deaths of David Dryerman, 54, his wife, Michele Dryerman, 54, and their 17-year-old daughter. New Jersey State Police reported that David Dryerman was driving a Tesla when the vehicle veered off the road, hitting a sign, guardrail, and concrete bridge support. All three occupants of the car were pronounced dead at the scene. In the wake of the tragedy, Rabbi Dov Drizin, who leads Valley Chabad in Woodcliff Lake, worked closely with authorities to ensure proper kavod hameis. Approximately 150 members of the Pascack Hills High School and Valley Chabad communities came together on Sunday evening for a candle lighting ceremony to honor the memory of David, Michele, and Brooke. The gathering also served as a moment to extend love and support to their surviving son, Max. “We are all shocked and in such pain today,” Rabbi Yosef Orenstein said at the gathering. “A terrible accident took beloved parents, David and Michele, and their daughter Brooke, a dear friend to many of our teens. Baruch Dayan HaEmes. We gather to light a candle, pray, share memories, and do a mitzvah in memory of Brooke and her dear parents. Whether you knew the family or not, we are all hurting.” Woodcliff Lake Mayor Carlos Rendo expressed his condolences, saying in a statement on Facebook, “I just received word of this terrible tragedy. I have ordered that our flags be lowered. I am in shock. Please keep the family in your prayers.” The cause of the crash is still under investigation, and officials are working to determine what led to the tragic accident. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Dear Matzav Inbox,
As we make our way through the month of Elul and get ready for the Yomim Noraim, I have to ask, and forgive me please for doing so: Is it really the right way to spend our time during this holy season by going to a mixed seating concert in New York City? Is this what Elul is all about? Spending the night in MSG?
Elul is a time for serious introspection. It’s the time we should be focusing on our relationship with Hashem, reflecting on our deeds, and preparing ourselves for the yemei hakadosh. Instead, we see people choosing to spend their night at a mixed concert.
I am not a kanna’i. Really not. I’m a regular normal guy. But still, something doesn’t sit right with me: How does attending such an event align with the spirit of Elul? When we’re supposed to be deeply involved in improving ourselves and coming closer to Hashem, how can we justify participating in entertainment like this? Does it bother no one but me?
Let’s not fool ourselves. The way we spend our time during Elul affects our readiness for the Yomim Noraim. We need to be honest with ourselves and recognize that these choices matter. Instead of filling our time with who knows what, we should focus on what really matters, strengthening our kesher to Hashem and preparing ourselves for the Yomim Noraim.
At least that’s what I think.
We should use this precious time wisely and stay true to the spirit of Elul.
Wishing all your readers a kesivah v’chasimah tovah.
Sincerely,
P. M.
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The man suspected in an apparent assassination attempt targeting former President Donald Trump camped outside a golf course with food and a rifle for nearly 12 hours before a Secret Service agent confronted him and opened fire, according to court documents filed Monday. Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, faces charges of possessing a firearm despite a prior felony conviction and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Additional and more serious charges are possible as the investigation continues and Justice Department prosecutors seek an indictment from a grand jury. Routh appeared briefly in federal court in West Palm Beach, where he answered perfunctory questions about his work status and income. Shackled and wearing a blue jumpsuit, he smiled as he spoke with a public defender and reviewed documents ahead of the initial appearance. The lawyer declined to comment after the hearing ended. Routh was arrested Sunday afternoon after authorities spotted a firearm poking out of shrubbery on the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing. Prosecutors asked that he remain locked up as a flight risk. A federal magistrate set additional hearings for later this month. An FBI affidavit accompanying a criminal complaint shows how law enforcement officials, during their investigation, used his cellphone information to place him at the golf course from 1:59 a.m. Sunday until about 1:31 p.m. A digital camera, a loaded rifle with scope and a plastic bag containing food was recovered from the area where Routh had positioned himself, according to the affidavit. The authorities did not immediately reveal any new details about Routh or allege a particular motive. But he left an online footprint that reveals shifting political views and intense outrage about world events. “You are free to assassinate Trump,” Routh wrote of Iran in an apparently self-published 2023 book titled “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War,” which described the former president as a “fool” and “buffoon” for both the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots and the “tremendous blunder” of leaving the Iran nuclear deal. Routh wrote that he once voted for Trump and must take part of the blame for the “child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless.” He also tried to recruit fighters for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia, and he had a website seeking to raise money and recruit volunteers to fight for Kyiv. Court records obtained by The Associated Press show Routh was convicted of multiple felony offenses, including two charges of possessing stolen goods in 2002 in North Carolina. Speaking in a soft voice in court, he said that he was working and making around $3,000 a month, but has zero savings. Routh said that he has no real estate or assets, aside from two trucks worth about $1,000, both located in Hawaii. He also said that he has a 25-year-old son, whom he sometimes supports. Secret Service agents stationed a few holes up from where Trump was playing golf noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away. An agent fired and Routh dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the firearm behind along with two backpacks, an aiming scope and a GoPro camera, authorities said. Routh was later stopped by law enforcement in a neighboring county. It was […]
Israeli Health Minister Uriel Busso, of the Charedi Shas party, said some Nukhba terrorists captured by Israel and treated in Israeli hospitals, entered the Gaza Strip with the IDF and aided the forces in locating and rescuing hostages.
The comments came while pushing back against criticism of Israel treating the terrorists. At a press conference on Monday, Busso said that the health ministry set up a medical facility, together with the IDF, at the Sde Teiman prison, which is housing Nukhba terrorists, and that: “We must treat anyone who comes through its doors.”
Busso added: “A doctor who’s been in the health system for 30 years told me that terrorists, once stabilized, were brought in for interrogation and that’s how we saved lives. Some of these terrorists, who were treated by our health system, were taken into Gaza and down the tunnels and helped rescue hostages. This information is saving lives now. That’s why we treat them, to stabilize them.”
Additionally, Busso discussed how medical facilities are preparing for war in the North, saying: “We’ve been ready for several months with hospital fortifications and backup for whatever is needed.”
{Matzav.com}
A massive fire involving a liquified natural gas pipeline was shooting a towering pillar of flame for hours over suburban Houston on Monday as first-responders evacuated a surrounding neighborhood and tried to keep more nearby homes from catching fire. The blaze involving a 20-inch pipeline carrying liquified natural gas must burn itself out, according to its operator, Dallas-based Energy Transfer. The company said the gas flow was shut off but the fire will have to burn itself out. Firefighters were dispatched at 9:55 a.m. after an explosion that rattled adjacent homes and businesses in Deer Park and La Porte, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of downtown Houston, long the energy capital of the U.S. The plume of smoke could been seen from at least 10 miles away, and nearby there was a chemical smell in the air. Geselle Melina Guerra said she and her boyfriend heard an explosion at around 9:30 a.m. as they were having breakfast in their mobile home. “All of a sudden we hear this loud bang and then I see something bright, like orange, coming from our back door that’s outside,” said Guerra, 25, who lives within the evacuation area. Her boyfriend woke up his brother and they ran to their car. “I was just freaking out, pacing around the living room, not really knowing what to do or what was happening,” Guerrea said. “I thought maybe it was an airplane that had crashed down by our house.” There was no immediate word on whether anyone has been injured. La Porte city spokesperson Lee Woodward told KTRK-TV that people in nearby schools were told to shelter in place as law enforcement blocked off a wide area. At nearby San Jacinto College, which closed its campus after the explosion, people who gathered included Evan Wyman, who had gotten word after calling police that her dog Baxter had been rescued from her home, which is in the evacuated neighborhood. “I just know that my dog is rescued,” Wyman said. At least one gas transmission pipeline and one hazardous liquid pipeline run through the area on fire, according to U.S. Department of Transportation geographic data from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Another gas transmission pipeline cuts diagonally through a nearby residential neighborhood along Spencer Highway, which runs through the suburbs of Deer Park and La Porte. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Houston is the nation’s petrochemical heartland and is home to a cluster of refineries, plants and thousands of miles of pipelines. Explosions and fires are a familiar sight to residents in Texas’ largest city, including some that have been deadly. The blasts have raised recurring questions about the adequacy of the industry’s plans to protect the public and the impacts of environmental damage. Video images from KTRK showed a park near the fire had been damaged and firefighters pouring water on adjacent homes. By noon, at least a couple of homes appeared to have caught fire, with smoke pouring from their roofs. There are also several businesses nearby, including a Walmart. Sanchez said they’re used to evacuations because they live close to other plants near the highway. But in the 10 years Sanchez has lived there, he had not witnessed an explosion. “We just drove as far as we could because […]
American consumers and home buyers, business people and political leaders have been waiting for months for what the Federal Reserve is poised to announce this week: That it’s cutting its key interest rate from a two-decade peak. It’s likely to be just the first in a series of rate cuts that should make borrowing more affordable now that the Fed has deemed high inflation to be all but defeated. Consider Kelly Mardis, who owns Marcel Painting in Tempe, Arizona. About a quarter of Mardis’ business comes from real estate agents who are prepping homes for sale or from new home buyers. Customer queries, he recalls, quickly dropped almost as soon as the Fed started jacking up interest rates in March 2022 — and then kept raising rates through July 2023. As the housing market contracted, Mardis had to lay off about half his staff of 30. It was the worst dry spell he had experienced in 14 years. After the Fed begins cutting rates on Wednesday, Mardis envisions brighter times ahead. Typically, a succession of Fed rate cuts leads over time to lower borrowing costs for things like mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and business loans. “I’m 100% sure it would make a difference,” Mardis said. “I’m looking forward to it.” At the same time, plenty of uncertainty still surrounds this week’s Fed meeting. How much will the policymakers decide to reduce their benchmark rate, now at 5.3%? By a traditional quarter-point or by an unusually large half-point? Will they keep loosening credit at their subsequent meetings in November and December and into 2025? Will lower borrowing costs take effect in time to bolster an economy that is still growing at a solid pace but is clearly showing cracks? Chair Jerome Powell emphasized in a speech last month in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that the Fed is prepared to cut rates to support the job market and achieve a notoriously difficult “soft landing.” That is when the central bank manages to curb inflation without tipping the economy into a steep recession and causing unemployment to surge. It’s not entirely clear that the Fed can pull it off. One hopeful sign is that as Powell and other Fed officials have signaled that rate cuts are coming, many interest rates have already fallen in anticipation. The average 30-year mortgage rate dropped to 6.2% last week — the lowest level in about 18 months and down from a peak of nearly 7.8%, according to the mortgage giant Freddie Mac. Other rates, like the yield on the five-year Treasury note, which influences auto loan rates, have also tumbled. “That really does help lower those borrowing costs across the board,” said Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide Financial. “That helps to give nice relief to consumers.” Businesses can now borrow at lower rates than they’ve been able to for the past year or so, potentially boosting their investment spending. “The question is if it’s helping quickly enough … to actually deliver the soft landing that everyone’s been hoping for,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, head of U.S. rates strategy at TD Securities. Many economists would like to see the Fed announce a half-point rate cut this week, in part because they think the officials should have begun cutting rates at their previous meeting in July. Wall Street traders […]
Ryan Wesley Routh, the man arrested on suspicion of possibly trying to assassinate former president Donald Trump, has been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Both are federal crimes.
Routh Routh appeared Monday in federal court in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The first charge carries a punishment of up to 15 years behind bars if he is found guilty.
(c) 2024, The Washington Post · Washington Post staff
What’s he doing here? That was my reaction when Vivek Ramaswamy, the former Republican presidential candidate, passed me at the Democratic National Convention, followed by a gaggle of reporters. I assume he didn’t agree with much of what he heard at this convention. Then I stopped to reflect on my own presence at the DNC. As a registered Republican (who occasionally votes for Democrats) representing the Torah values of Agudath Israel — did I belong here? The simple answer is that I work for Agudath Israel of America, which, as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization, can’t endorse or oppose any candidate or party for office. But our gedolim have mandated that we be effective shtadlanim, or advocates, for the Orthodox Jewish community. That means showing up on Capitol Hill and in statehouses and city halls across the country. You can’t be effective if you aren’t at the table, engaging with elected officials and influential people in both parties. While the focus of these conventions is on the presidential candidates, there are tens of thousands of local, state, and federal officials and party activists in attendance. At an Agudah event on the sidelines of the convention more than 150 elected officials and party activists mingled with Jewish leaders from across the country. The event was not an endorsement of the Democratic Party or its platform, but rather an opportunity to help educate public officials and activists about our community and engage them in important conversations. Democratic officials stood in silence as the Neutra family spoke about their son Omer, who has been held hostage by Hamas since October 7. In addition, there were banners posted around the room highlighting the need to condemn anti-Semitism by name, and not simply lump it together with ritual denunciations of “all other forms of hate,” and pointing out that a majority of anti-Semitic assaults around the country involve those who are identifiably Jewish — the Orthodox community. The elected officials who spoke at this event condemned this abhorrent trend and explained how they plan to combat it with concrete action. At a time when both major parties are accused of harboring anti-Semites in their ranks, we can’t afford to ignore either of them. For now, I’m encouraged that both parties feel that being perceived as the stronger one on the issue of anti-Semitism will get them more votes. Voters will ultimately decide who they believe. The other goal of The Agudah’s DNC event was to highlight the growth of the Orthodox Jewish community and its increasing electoral strength. Most Orthodox Jews live in blue states. Our message, delivered by elected officials, was simple — ignore the Orthodox community at your peril. Vivek Ramaswamy was also at the DNC to engage people, and his verbal exchanges went viral. I doubt that Vivek recruited anyone at the DNC to the Republican cause, but he proved that when you engage honestly and directly with people who disagree with you, you may be surprised at how they respond. As I drove home from Chicago late Thursday night, I revisited my question from a few hours earlier: Did I belong at the DNC? Like Vivek, I was there to share our agenda and not to accept theirs. How could I not have attended? Below is a recent episode of “Inside the […]
The Israel Defense Forces’ 5th Infantry Brigade has been stationed in the Netzarim Corridor that splits the Gaza Strip between north and south, the army announced on Monday.
It is the second time the reserve soldiers have operated in the coastal enclave since IDF troops entered the territory on Oct. 27, as part of the war the Hamas terrorist group started when it led a bloody assault on the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7.
The brigade’s first tour of duty entailed protecting the Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip in the first days of the war and ridding them of terrorists, before months of combat in the areas of Beit Hanun and Kherbat Ahzaa and the central corridor.
The infantry brigade falls under the command of the 252nd Division, which in recent months has been operating against Hamas and working to expand the axis dividing the northern and southern Strip.
“In the last few days, the brigade’s fighters completed a series of training and exercises at the Ground Forces Training Center (GTC). The forces carried out training and exercises in warfare in open and built-up areas and raised their operational competence in preparation for their mission in the center of the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said.
“In addition, the forces completed logistical preparation and held mobility, supplies and immediate medical response training in preparation for the fighting.”
(JNS)
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered the country’s military to increase its number of troops by 180,000 to a total of 1.5 million, as Moscow’s military action in Ukraine drags on for more than 2 ½ years. Putin’s decree, published on the official government website, will take effect Dec. 1. It sets the overall number of Russian military personnel at nearly 2.4 million, including 1.5 million troops, and orders the government to provide the necessary funding. The previous increase in Russian troop numbers came last December, when a decree by Putin set the total number of Russian military personnel at about 2.2 million, including 1.32 million troops. The most capable Russian troops have been pressing an offensive in eastern Ukraine, where they have made incremental but steady gains in the past few months. In June, Putin put the number of troops involved in what the Kremlin calls the “special military operation” in Ukraine at nearly 700,000. After calling up 300,000 reservists in the face of Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the fall of 2022, Russian authorities have switched to filling the ranks of troops fighting in Ukraine with volunteer soldiers, who have been attracted by relatively high wages. Many commentators have noted that the Kremlin has been reluctant to call more reservists, fearing domestic destabilization like what happened in 2022 when hundreds of thousands fled Russia to avoid being sent to combat. The shortage of military personnel has been widely cited as a key reason behind the success of Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region launched Aug. 6. The Kremlin has sought to avoid the redeployment of troops from eastern Ukraine and relied on reinforcements from other areas to stem the Ukrainian incursion. The Russian Defense Ministry on Monday reported reclaiming control of two more villages in the Kursk region from Ukrainian forces. (AP)
“Telling your wife your needs and wants” is a complete waste of time for married men who want happiness and I’ll tell you why. So many marriage experts claim they have the secret to a happy marriage and that it all comes down to communication, boundaries and bringing in more money. They tell you to help out more at home, talk about the past, go together to a marriage professional but never stop to take inventory of whether ANY of these methods are actually WORKING in creating happiness and joy! I am not saying those strategies don’t work at all, but they are the long… slow… painful way of having a happy home. And for the few that make it with these strategies, they’ve done it while he doesn’t get what he needs, and she doesn’t get what she needs. Meanwhile, we’re helping our clients connect with their wives on the highest level, living lives full of happiness and excitement and it gets more and more joyful by the day where both husband and wife feel happiness and excitement… … all without needing their wife to meet them halfway! To check out how they do this, click below to watch my free presentation where I share all the details … you’re going to thank me for it! 5 Steps Married Men Use to Get Rid of Friction and Create Happiness and Excitement… Without Needing Their Wife to Meet Them Halfway!
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