Feed aggregator

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday that once he enters office in January, the city will halt all future clearings of homeless encampments — a dramatic reversal of one of the Adams administration’s defining enforcement strategies.

Speaking to reporters at an unrelated Manhattan press event, Mamdani dismissed the current policy as ineffective and fundamentally misguided. Pointing to the failure to place displaced individuals into long-term living situations, he argued, “If you are not connecting homeless New Yorkers to the housing that they so desperately need, then you cannot deem anything you’re doing to be a success.”

He said the city must pivot toward a strategy centered entirely on securing stable places to live for those on the streets. “We are going to take an approach that understands its mission is connecting those New Yorkers to housing,” Mamdani said.

The incoming mayor emphasized that all forms of housing should be on the table — supportive units, rental apartments, and other available options — while faulting the belief that homelessness is simply an unavoidable urban condition. “Whether it’s supportive housing, whether it’s rental housing, whatever kind of housing it is, because what we have seen is the treatment of homelessness as if it is a natural part of living in this city, when in fact, it’s more often a reflection of a political choice being made.”

Despite the sweeping shift he promised, Mamdani did not provide any concrete plan for how to resolve the sprawling encampment-related complaints that flood the city’s system. Between January and November 2025 alone, more than 45,000 311 calls were filed concerning makeshift camps.

Mayor Eric Adams made encampment removal a central policy goal early in his term, unveiling the push in March 2022 with a blunt declaration: “We cannot tolerate these makeshift, unsafe houses on the side of highways, in trees, in front of schools, in parks. This is just not acceptable, and it’s something I’m just not going to allow to happen.”

But the results were grim. A subsequent audit revealed that roughly 95% of the individuals displaced in these clearances ended up back on the streets soon after their shelters were dismantled.

City Hall rejected the comptroller’s findings, defending the policy as far more successful than critics claimed. In a separate statement Thursday, spokesperson Fabien Levy said, “Cherry-picking numbers and sharing them out of context paint a disingenuous picture as these cleanups have actually connected more than 500 New Yorkers to safe, stable housing.”

Levy also stressed the city’s broader achievements, adding, “New York City continues to have the lowest rate of unsheltered homelessness of any major city in the nation.”

{Matzav.com}

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa leveled a blistering accusation against Israel on Saturday, charging that Jerusalem is deliberately “exporting crises” to neighboring countries in an effort to divert international attention from what he called “horrifying massacres” in Gaza. Speaking during an onstage interview at the Doha Forum in Qatar, Sharaa claimed Israel is manufacturing regional instability […]

Israeli officials have informed mediators that members of Islamic Jihad possess direct knowledge of the whereabouts of Yasam officer Ran Gvili, who was seized amid the fighting in Gaza. According to the same message, Hamas is also believed to have the ability to access him.

Channel 12 News reported that Israel supplied mediators with intelligence pointing to Gvili’s potential location and is insisting on swift, forceful diplomatic engagement to secure his return. Israel has emphasized that any delay is unacceptable and expects concrete movement immediately.

An Israeli official told reporters, “The mediators are signaling that Hamas is showing interest in honoring the hostages-and-missing agreement and wants to move to the next stage, which includes disarmament and demilitarization of the Strip.”

The official added that Hamas is aware of its narrowing options. “Hamas already understands they have no choice but to move toward disarmament and demilitarization. Either they agree to it, or we will dismantle their weapons ourselves. We will not leave in Gaza a threat to the State of Israel.”

{Matzav.com}

Canada revealed Friday that it is taking Syria and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham off its roster of designated terrorist entities, marking a major shift in its approach to groups now tied to the interim authorities governing Syria following the fall of the Assad regime. The organization, once under the leadership of Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa, is now formally linked to the transitional government attempting to rebuild the country.

In a statement laying out the policy change, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand emphasized that the move parallels steps made by key Western allies. She explained that the decision “is consistent with policy taken by Canada’s partners – the United States and the United Kingdom – and is part of a broader effort to promote stability in the Middle East and to combat global terrorist threats.”

Anand stressed that Canada has not softened its stance toward global jihadist networks, underscoring that Ottawa maintains a strict posture toward organizations such as al-Qaida and ISIS. She said Canada remains fully committed to countering these threats, even as it recognizes “positive steps taken by the interim government in Syria.” She added, “We stand with the Syrian people in their struggle for a future of stability and prosperity.”

Canada’s engagement with Syria over the past decade has included significant humanitarian investment. From 2016 to 2025, Ottawa allocated $4.7 billion to support relief efforts in Syria and in countries absorbing displaced Syrians. During the same period, more than 100,000 refugees fleeing the civil war were resettled in Canada as part of its national admissions program.

{Matzav.com}

Wildfires in Australia’s New South Wales have torn through thousands of hectares of bushland, prompting authorities to urge thousands of residents to evacuate.

A major gathering at Ancient Shiloh on Friday turned sharply political when Dr. Mike Evans, a prominent Evangelical figure and onetime adviser to President Donald Trump, publicly challenged remarks made by US Vice President JD Vance regarding Israel’s authority over Judea and Samaria.

The event, organized by Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Ganz, brought roughly 1,000 Evangelical leaders to the Binyamin region. From the podium, Dr. Evans confronted Vance’s recent comments head-on. “You said something, Mr. Vice President, that is not accurate. You said, ‘The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy.’”

Evans stressed his admiration for America and for Vance personally, but insisted that biblical history and divine promise override political talking points. “Mr. Vice President- we love you. We love you and we love America. But there’s something you have to understand. The policy of the G-d who birthed America and the policy of the God who gave these people this land is, in fact that Judea and Samaria is Bible land.”

He invoked the deep historical roots of the area, emphasizing how central it is to Jewish identity. “Eighty percent of the Bible stories come out of Judea and Samaria, Mr. Vice President. And here in Shiloh was the spot. This was the capital of Israel. This is where the Samuel was and the Tabernacle was. It was all right here.”

Evans concluded with a pointed admonition to Washington to avoid pressuring Israel on territorial concessions. “We’re grateful that America is getting the illegals out of America. We’re supporting that. But don’t pressure Israel to give illegal, radical, Islam, Jew haters: Judea and Samaria.”

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump on Saturday presented medals to the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees during a ceremony in the Oval Office, hailing the slate of artists he was deeply involved in choosing as “perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class” ever assembled. This year’s recipients are actor Sylvester Stallone, singers Gloria Gaynor and George Strait, the […]

Israeli forces blocked what could have been a devastating assault in the Chevron region this evening, when IDF paratroopers stopped two attackers who tried to ram their vehicle into Israelis at a police checkpoint. One Israeli sustained only minor injuries in the incident.

According to the IDF, “a short while ago, two terrorists accelerated their vehicle toward IDF soldiers during an operational activity at a security checkpoint in Chevron.” Troops immediately opened fire, bringing the threat to an abrupt end. “The soldiers fired at the terrorists and eliminated them,” the statement added.

Following the clash, the IDF reported that an uninvolved Palestinian Authority Arab was also killed amid the gunfire exchange, noting that the circumstances are under review.

{Matzav.com}

Trump advisor Alex Bruesewitz is asked if he disagrees with President Trump on anything at the 2025 Doha Forum – “He said that he would arrest Hillary Clinton; and she’s at the Doha Forum instead of jail.”

Volodymyr Zelensky said he held a “constructive” conversation with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, describing it as a focused effort to explore how to bring an “end to the bloodshed.” The call coincided with the third consecutive day of American and Ukrainian delegations convening in Miami for another round of discussions aimed at halting the conflict.

After the call, Zelensky wrote on X that “we covered many aspects and went through key points that could ensure an end to the bloodshed and eliminate the threat of a new Russian full scale invasion, as well as the risk of Russia failing to honour its promises, as has happened repeatedly in the past.” He added that “we agreed on the next steps and formats for talks with the United States.”

Kyiv’s security leadership — including national security adviser Rustem Umerov and Andrii Hnatov, chief of staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces — is slated to brief Zelensky upon returning home, he noted. Their report is expected to outline what, if anything, the latest exchanges with Washington might yield.

The diplomatic track unfolded against the backdrop of one of Russia’s most punishing overnight assaults in months. Ukraine’s air force reported that Moscow launched 653 drones and 51 missiles in a sweeping overnight strike that hammered the country’s already fragile energy network and set off air raid sirens nationwide.

Local authorities said at least eight people were injured, with three hurt in the Kyiv region. Substations and power-generation facilities took significant hits, and one of the two power lines feeding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was knocked offline, causing the facility to lose external electricity yet again — the eleventh such outage since the start of Moscow’s invasion, officials said. The head of Ukraine’s state grid operator characterized the destruction as “quite severe,” according to the Kyiv Independent.

Zelensky condemned the barrage on Telegram, calling it “a meaningless strike from a military point of view.” He stressed that “the main targets of these strikes are once again energy infrastructure. The goal of the Russians is to hurt millions of Ukrainians, and they have already fallen so low that they launch missiles at peaceful cities on St. Nicholas Day.”

Poland’s air force revealed that its fighter jets were scrambled as the hours-long attack on western Ukraine approached its borders, prompting Warsaw to reinforce its airspace defenses.

These latest developments follow an earlier, extended sit-down in Moscow between Vladimir Putin, Witkoff, and Kushner — a meeting that culminated in the Kremlin declaring parts of the peace framework “unacceptable.”

After the follow-up talks in Miami, which began Thursday, the U.S. delegation acknowledged the challenges ahead. In a statement on Friday, Witkoff wrote: “Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings.”

{Matzav.com}

After an illegal alien stabbed an individual on the Charlotte light rail last night. Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Another stabbing by an Illegal Migrant in Charlotte, North Carolina. What’s going on in Charlotte? Democrats are destroying it, like everything else, piece by piece!!! President DJT”

In Badulla, Sri Lanka, an Indian Air Force Mi-17 doing disaster-relief work got stuck after landing off-site, and footage shows personnel physically pushing the helicopter out of the mud.

Authorities hunted Saturday for the last of three inmates who escaped from a Louisiana jail after removing concrete blocks from a deteriorating wall. “We would prefer that he surrender himself peaceably,” St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz said in a statement, “but we will not rest until he is captured.” Detectives and SWAT officers […]

Ghassan Duhine has become the new leader of Anti-Hams Popular Forces in Rafah, Gaza, replacing Yasser Abu Shabab, who was killed this past week.

Tom Barrack, US Ambassador to Turkey on Iran: “President Trump is not interested in kicking the can down the road. Tehran needs to listen to the U.S. on zero enrichment, stopping funding of terror proxies, and “our president is smart enough to know that baiting him just to get a dialogue and continuing this senseless […]

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth: Allies that step up like Israel, South Korea, Poland, increasingly Germany, the Baltics, and others will receive our special favor. Allies that still fail to do their part for collective defense will face consequences.

Thousands of people in Kyiv take refuge underground during Russian air strikes

California officials are warning foragers after an outbreak of poisoning linked to wild mushrooms that has killed one adult and caused severe liver damage in several patients, including children. The state poison control system has identified 21 cases of amatoxin poisoning, likely caused by death cap mushrooms, the health department said Friday. The toxic wild […]

Jan. 6 pipe bomb suspect Brian Cole confessed, said he supports Trump and has anarchist views: Report • Accused pipe bomb planter Brian Cole Jr. confessed his crimes to the FBI, MS NOW reported. • Cole also told agents that he supported President Donald Trump and held anarchist views, according to MS NOW. • Cole […]

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Israel this evening. He is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Netanyahu tomorrow. FM Gideon Sa’ar greeted him upon landing at Ben Gurion Airport.