The last time U.S. President Donald Trump visited South Korea in 2019, he made a surprise trip to the border with North Korea for an impromptu meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to revive faltering nuclear talks. Now, as Trump is set to make his first trip to Asia since his return to office, speculation is rife that he may seek to meet Kim again during his stop in South Korea. If realized, it would mark the two’s first summit since their last meeting at the Korean border village of Panmunjom in June 2019, and fourth overall. Many experts say prospects for another impromptu meeting aren’t bright this time but predict Trump and Kim could eventually sit down for talks again in coming months. Others dispute that, saying a quick resumption of diplomacy isn’t still likely given how much has changed since 2019 — both the size of North Korea’s nuclear program and its foreign policy leverage. Talks of fresh diplomacy Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to restore diplomacy with Kim as he boasted of his relationship with the North Korean leader and called him “a smart guy.” Ending his silence on Trump’s outreach, Kim last month said he held “good personal memories” of Trump and suggested he could return to talks if the U.S. drops “its delusional obsession with denuclearization” of North Korea. Both Washington and Pyongyang haven’t hinted at any high-profile meeting ahead of the Oct. 31-Nov. 1 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in South Korea. But South Korea’s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young told lawmakers in mid-October that it was possible for Trump and Kim to meet at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone again when the U.S. president comes to South Korea after visiting Malaysia and Japan. “We should see prospects for their meeting have increased,” said Ban Kil Joo, assistant professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy in Seoul. He cited the recent suspension of civilian tours to the southern side of Panmunjom and Kim’s comments about a possible return to talks. If the meeting doesn’t occur, Ban said Kim will likely determine whether to resume diplomacy with Trump when he holds a major ruling party conference expected in January. No notable logistical preparations that imply an impending Kim-Trump meeting have been reported, but observers note that the 2019 get-together was arranged only a day after Trump issued an unorthodox meeting invitation by tweet. Kim’s greater leverage Since his earlier diplomacy with Trump fell apart due to disputes over U.S.-led sanctions on North Korea, Kim has accelerated the expansion of an arsenal of nuclear-capable missiles designed to strike the U.S. and its allies. He has also strengthened his diplomatic footprint by aligning with Russia over its war in Ukraine and tightening relations with China. Subsequently, Kim’s sense of urgency for talks with the United States could be much weaker now than it was six years ago, though some experts argue Kim would need to brace for the end of the Russia-Ukraine war. “Considering the current situation, it seems difficult to imagine Kim Jong Un coming over for talks,” said Kim Tae-hyung, a professor at Seoul’s Soongsil University. With an enlarged nuclear arsenal, stronger diplomatic backing from Russia and China and the weakening enforcement of sanctions, Kim has greater leverage and clearly wants the U.S. to acknowledge North Korea as a nuclear power, a status needed to call for the lifting of […]
President Donald Trump signaled he is weighing whether to urge Israel to free arch Palestinian terrorist murderer Marwan Barghouti, the jailed Fatah thug regarded by many Palestinians as their most unifying political figure.
The move would represent a major shift as Washington explores options for a new leadership structure in Gaza after the war.
In an interview released Thursday, Trump acknowledged that Barghouti’s case had come up in internal talks among his aides. “I was literally being confronted with that question about 15 minutes before you called,” he told TIME Magazine when asked about the idea. “So I’ll be making a decision.”
The White House declined to offer any comment regarding Trump’s contemplation of the matter. His acknowledgment of the ongoing discussions highlights the immense challenge facing U.S. and Israeli policymakers as they seek a credible authority to govern Gaza once Hamas is removed.
Barghouti’s name has long loomed large in Palestinian politics, but Israel has refused to consider his release. He was notably excluded from this month’s Gaza ceasefire prisoner exchange, even though Hamas negotiators reportedly pressed for his inclusion.
Israel considers Barghouti a terrorist responsible for orchestrating deadly attacks. Convicted in 2004 for involvement in assaults that left five Israelis dead, he is currently serving multiple life terms.
Yet, for many Palestinians, Barghouti’s imprisonment has only elevated his stature. Supporters describe him as a pragmatic nationalist who, while endorsing armed resistance at times, also promoted the vision of two states living side by side. His admirers liken him to Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid icon who rose from incarceration to lead South Africa.
Now 66, Barghouti remains one of the rare figures commanding respect across the fragmented Palestinian political spectrum. With Mahmoud Abbas aging and deeply unpopular, polls routinely show terrorist Barghouti as the leading choice to succeed him as head of the Palestinian Authority.
Before his arrest, the sickening terrorist led Fatah’s operations in the West Bank during the second intifada. Israel accused him of directing the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a coalition of Fatah-linked militants that carried out numerous deadly attacks.
Though he never confirmed or denied ties to the Brigades, Barghouti often defended the Palestinians’ right to resist amid expanding settlements and military crackdowns. He simultaneously spoke of his desire for a peaceful resolution and a sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel.
When captured by Israel, Barghouti refused to defend himself in court, declaring that he did not recognize its authority. He was convicted on multiple counts of murder tied to attacks by the Brigades and sentenced to five life terms, though acquitted on several other charges.
The latest prisoner release under the ceasefire deal primarily freed Hamas and Fatah members jailed since the 2000s, many serving time for deadly assaults or attempted attacks on Israelis. Most were subsequently sent either to Gaza or into exile abroad after regaining their freedom.
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Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu pushed back against claims that the United States dictates Israel’s actions, declaring that Israel remains a sovereign nation in full control of its decisions.
His comments came after President Donald Trump told TIME Magazine that Israel would not move forward with applying sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, warning, “Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.”
“I deeply, deeply appreciate President Trump’s support – both for the wartime operations, for my decision to enter Gaza City, and for his mobilization of the Arab world to help bring back our hostages through our military pressure and his diplomatic pressure,” Netanyahu said in response to a question from Channel 12 News.
The prime minister went on to describe the joint efforts between Israel and Washington, noting the success of recent operations. “We brought back 20 hostages alive, something no one believed would happen. Now, in the framework we’re advancing – including tonight’s conversation with Marco Rubio, and earlier with Vice President Vance – we’re working to promote the goals of demilitarizing Gaza and disarming Hamas, along with other matters important to us. That’s what matters. The cooperation between us, between partners, is a blessing for the State of Israel. We are an independent country,” he emphasized.
The exchange followed a contentious Knesset session on Wednesday, during which lawmakers approved in a preliminary reading two bills proposing the application of Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. Netanyahu’s office quickly distanced the government from the move, asserting that “the Knesset vote on annexation was a deliberate political provocation by the opposition to sow discord during Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel.”
According to the statement, both pieces of legislation were introduced by opposition Knesset members, not by members of the governing coalition.
Vice President JD Vance reacted sharply to the developments as he boarded Air Force Two to leave Israel, calling the vote “weird” and expressing bewilderment over the timing. He told reporters that he had been informed the move was “symbolic” and merely a “political stunt.” In his words, “If it was a political stunt, then it was a stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it.”
Vance made clear that Washington’s position remains unchanged, stating, “The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy.”
{Matzav.com}
A 21-year-old semitruck driver accused of being under the influence of drugs and causing a fiery crash that killed three people on a southern California freeway is in the country illegally, U.S. Homeland Security officials said Thursday. Jashanpreet Singh was arrested and jailed after Tuesday’s eight-vehicle crash in Ontario, California, that also left four people injured. He faces three counts of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence causing injury, the San Bernardino District Attorney’s office said. Singh is scheduled for arraignment Friday. The district attorney’s office said he does not yet have a lawyer. Singh, of Yuba City, California, is from India and entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 across the southern border, Homeland Security said Thursday in a post on X. That revelation prompted Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to restate earlier concerns about who should be able to obtain commercial driver’s licenses. Duffy and President Donald Trump have been pressing the issue and criticizing California ever since a deadly Florida crash in August was caused by an immigrant truck driver the federal government says was in the country illegally. The Transportation Department significantly restricted when noncitizens can get commercial driver’s licenses last month. Duffy said this week’s crash wouldn’t have happened if Newsom had followed these new rules. “These people deserve justice. There will be consequences,” he said in a statement. Newsom’s office responded that the federal government approved Singh’s federal employment authorization multiple times and this allowed him to obtain a commercial driver’s license in accordance with federal law. California’s Highway Patrol said in a release that traffic westbound on Interstate 10, about 26 miles (42 kilometers) west of San Bernardino, had slowed about 1 p.m. Tuesday when a tractor-trailer failed to stop, struck other vehicles and caused a chain-reaction crash. Dashcam video from the tractor-trailer obtained by KABC-TV shows the truck slamming into what appears to be a small, white SUV in the freeway’s center lane. It continued forward, plowing into several other vehicles, including another truck. It then crossed over two lanes before crashing into an already-disabled truck on the freeway’s right shoulder. Flames can be seen erupting alongside the tractor-trailer as it crosses the two right lanes. California Highway Patrol Officer Rodrigo Jimenez says the agency has seen the KABC video and believes it is dashcam video from the truck that caused the crash. “This tragedy follows a disturbing pattern of criminal illegal aliens driving commercial vehicles on American roads, directly threatening public safety,” Homeland Security said Thursday in its X post. Deadly crash in Florida In August, a truck driver made an illegal turn on Florida’s Turnpike, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach, and was struck by a minivan. Two passengers in the minivan died at the scene, and the driver died at a hospital. Homeland Security has said that truck driver, Harjinder Singh, was in the United States illegally. Florida authorities said he entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 2018. Homeland Security said Harjinder Singh obtained a commercial driver’s license in California, which is one of 19 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, that issue licenses regardless of immigration status, according to the National Immigration Law Center. The Trump administration has pointed to the Florida crash while sparring with California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. In April, Trump […]
President Donald Trump revealed Thursday that an unnamed benefactor had stepped forward with a stunning act of generosity — donating $130 million to the federal government to make up for the gap in military pay caused by the ongoing government shutdown.
Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting that the donation came after a personal phone call from the contributor. “He called us the other day and he said, ‘I’d like to contribute any shortfall you have because of the Democrat shutdown. I’d like to contribute, personally, contribute any shortfall you have with the military, because I love the military and I love the country, and any shortfall, if there’s a shortfall, I’ll contribute it,’” Trump said.
According to the president, the donor wanted no recognition or fanfare. “He doesn’t really want the recognition, if you want to know the truth, but he gave us a check for $130 million, which was sort of a shortfall, and that’s going to go to the military,” Trump added.
The revelation immediately set off a wave of speculation online as users tried to piece together who the anonymous patriot might be. Trump offered only two clues: the donor was a personal friend of his and preferred to remain unnamed. That didn’t stop the internet from guessing.
One of the most frequently mentioned possibilities was Elon Musk. With a net worth approaching $500 billion, observers noted that a $130 million gift would barely make a dent in the X founder’s fortune. “According to President Trump, an anonymous billionaire sent a $130 million check to pay off our troops during the Schumer Shutdown. What’s the odds it was Elon?” one X user asked.
Others joined in the guessing game. “Who do you think paid donated $130,000,000 to pay the salary shortfall for the military? I say it was Elon,” another wrote, while someone else posted, “Was it Elon Musk who donated $130 million dollars due to the shutdown?”
Grok, responding to the speculation, weighed in with an analysis: “Elon Musk is the most likely candidate, having funneled over $130 million into pro-Trump efforts via PACs while vocally prioritizing U.S. military and space dominance. His close ties to Trump and aversion to some spotlight align with the anonymity request. Other possibilities like Jared Isaacman exist, but Musk’s scale and patriotism make him the prime fit.”
Still, others thought the credit might go to another billionaire — Jared Isaacman, the founder and CEO of Shift4. With a net worth of roughly $1.3 billion, Isaacman certainly had the means. Grok commented on this theory as well, saying, “Yes, Jared Isaacman (aka rookisaacman) is a billionaire. Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.3 billion as of late October 2025, primarily from founding Shift4 Payments. A $130 million donation would represent roughly 10% of that, which is substantial but feasible for someone of his wealth who’s already funded private space missions.”
Not everyone believed the donor was a third party. Some even floated the idea that Trump himself might have made the donation. Independent journalist Nick Sortor, who broke the story, wrote, “Wouldn’t surprise me! He’s got a history of doing things like this without mentioning it publicly.” Still, since Trump described the donor as “a friend,” many dismissed that theory.
As of now, the donor’s identity remains a mystery. The names circulating — Musk, Isaacman, or even Trump himself — are purely speculative. What’s certain is that someone quietly stepped in with $130 million to keep America’s troops paid during a political standoff in Washington.
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President Donald Trump said late Thursday that he was ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada because of a television ad opposing U.S. tariffs that he said misstated the facts and called “egregious behavior” aimed at influencing U.S. court decisions. The post on Trump’s social media site came after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he aims to double his country’s exports to countries outside the U.S. because of the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs. Trump’s call for an abrupt end to negotiations could further inflame trade tensions that already have been building between the two neighboring countries for months. Trump posted, “The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs.” “The ad was for $75,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.” Carney’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The prime minister was set to leave Friday morning for a summit in Asia, while Trump is set to do the same Friday evening. Earlier Thursday night, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute posted on X that an ad created by the government of Ontario “misrepresents the ‘Presidential Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade’ dated April 25, 1987.” It added that Ontario did not receive foundation permission “to use and edit the remarks.” The foundation said it is “reviewing legal options in this matter” and invited the public to watch the unedited video of Reagan’s address. Carney met with Trump earlier this month to try to ease trade tensions, as the two countries and Mexico prepare for a review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement — a trade deal Trump negotiated in his first term, but has since soured on. More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the U.S., and nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border daily. Trump said earlier this week that he had seen the ad on television and said that it showed that his tariffs were having an impact. “I saw an ad last night from Canada. If I was Canada, I’d take that same ad also,” he said then. In his own post on X last week, Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, posted a link to the ad and the message: “It’s official: Ontario’s new advertising campaign in the U.S. has launched.” He continued, “Using every tool we have, we’ll never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada. The way to prosperity is by working together.” A spokesperson for Ford didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night. But Ford previously got Trump’s attention with an electricity surcharge to U.S. states. Trump responded by doubling steel and aluminum tariffs. The president has moved to impose steep U.S. tariffs on many goods from Canada. In April, Canada’s government imposed retaliatory levies on certain U.S. goods — but it carved out exemptions for some automakers to bring specific numbers of vehicles into the country, known as remission quotas. Trump’s tariffs have […]
Gerer Rosh Yeshiva Rav Shaul Alter penned a moving letter this week to the family of hostage atan Angrest, expressing profound gratitude to Hashem for the miracle of Matan’s return after two long years of captivity in Hamas tunnels beneath Gaza.
The Rosh Yeshiva shared that throughout the years of anguish, he had kept a special place in his heart for Matan after his parents had once visited his room and given him a picture of their son. “But now,” Rav Shaul wrote, “there is praise to Hashem — we have the source itself, and no longer need the picture.”
In his letter, Rav Alter highlighted the remarkable spiritual recognition that Matan had achieved during his imprisonment, seeing in it a powerful expression of divine providence even in the depths of darkness. He thanked Hashem for the matan — both literally and figuratively — that the Jewish people merited upon Matan’s safe return “to the land of the living.”
According to members of Rav Shaul’s kehillah, ever since Simchas Torah two years ago, when the war began and the hostages were taken, the Rosh Yeshiva made it his personal practice to recite the entire Sefer Tehillim each day after Mincha. This custom was observed daily in his beis medrash without fail, continuing until this past Simchas Torah — the very day that the nation received the joyous news of the hostages’ return.
At the hakafos shniyos celebration that night, Rav Shaul offered a public hoda’ah, a heartfelt expression of thanksgiving to Hashem for the miracles witnessed and for the return of the captives to their families, filling Klal Yisroel with emotion and gratitude.
{Matzav.com}
Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared Friday that coordinating a cease-fire in Gaza is “a historic mission,” as the United States and its international partners work to sustain the truce, deliver humanitarian aid and prepare for a multinational peacekeeping force to enter the territory. At a press conference convened at the U.S.–Israel Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel — the hub overseeing the cease-fire in Gaza — Rubio described the emerging effort as the centerpiece of America’s strategy. He warned the implementation “is not going to be a linear journey. There’s going to be ups and downs and twists and turns.” But he added: “I think we have a lot of reason for healthy optimism about the progress that’s being made.” Rubio said the State Department and affiliated agencies are increasing their presence at the coordination center, and the staffing will continue to grow to “provide personnel on things like emergency response and the coordination of humanitarian assistance.” The focus, he said, remains on the initial phase of the cease-fire plan. “We’ve got to get through the process that we’re involved in right now, which is making sure the cease-fire holds without anything disrupting it, making sure people are getting the life-sustaining aid that they need in a way that’s not being looted or stolen or diverted in any way, and at the same time, creating the conditions for the [International] Stabilization Force to come in as soon as it possibly can be put together to provide the stabilization we need to move to the further phases of this plan,” Rubio said. He issued a warning about the volatility in Gaza: “On the other side of that yellow line,” he said, referring to areas from which the IDF withdrew under the cease-fire, “there is still a terrorist group that remains armed, and we’ve seen them take actions against their own population.” Rubio urged greater media attention to Hamas’s actions against Palestinians in Gaza, saying: “That’s something to point to.” Asked whether Israel would need U.S. “permission” to resume fighting Hamas if it re-arms, Rubio replied: “I don’t think this has to do anything with permission or anything of that nature. This has to do with basically, we’re all committed to making this plan work. There is no plan B. This is the best plan. It’s the only plan. It’s one that we think can succeed. It’s one that we believe is on the way to success.” He repeatedly emphasized that the U.S. cease-fire plan benefits from broad regional support and is the “only” viable option. On the question of Hamas’s disarmament, Rubio stressed: “If Hamas refuses to demilitarize, it’ll be a violation of the agreement, and that’ll have to be enforced. I’m not going to get into the mechanisms by which it is going to be enforced, but it’ll have to be enforced.” He added: “This is a deal, and a deal requires conditions to be met. Israel has met their commitments. They’re standing at the yellow line, and that is contingent upon the demilitarization.” Rubio acknowledged the long timeline ahead. “Hamas disarmament and the demilitarization of Gaza under the second phase of the deal is a long-term project,” he said. “We want to help create the conditions here so that people in Gaza don’t have to be terrorized by […]
Top Biden administration officials personally authorized an FBI investigation that targeted nearly 100 Republican-aligned groups, donors, and even sitting members of Congress, newly released records show — a move senior Republicans are now calling one of the most egregious abuses of federal power in decades. The unclassified files, made public Thursday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), reveal that former Attorney General Merrick Garland, then–Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and former FBI Director Christopher Wray all signed off on the operation, code-named “Arctic Frost.” The April 2022 memo formally greenlit a sweeping probe into what the bureau described as “an apparent effort to obstruct Congress’ certification of the Electoral College” following the 2020 presidential election. Grassley accused the Justice Department and FBI of “unleashing unchecked government power at the highest levels,” warning that “Arctic Frost” amounted to “weaponized law enforcement that’s arguably worse than Watergate.” “My oversight will continue,” Grassley wrote on X, calling the findings a “bombshell” that exposed a “systematic effort to surveil political opponents.” The four-page authorization memo, dated April 4, 2022, was written by Wray and sent to Garland for approval. The FBI chief argued that “open-source reporting and public statements made by individuals closely associated with Donald J. Trump, Inc. (Trump Campaign) present an articulable factual basis indicating the existence of a federal crime.” The document was signed by Garland the following day. Beneath his signature line, Monaco scrawled a handwritten note: “Merrick, I recommend you approve.” Though initially framed as an investigation into fake elector slates allegedly submitted to the National Archives from several battleground states, the operation soon widened to include a broad range of conservative figures, advocacy organizations, and lawmakers. The probe would later provide materials used by special counsel Jack Smith in his failed criminal case against Donald Trump, which alleged unlawful efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. According to Grassley’s disclosures, “Arctic Frost” expanded far beyond the Trump campaign orbit. The FBI quietly subpoenaed phone records belonging to nine congressional Republicans, including Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), and Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.). The subpoenas sought “toll analysis” data — records showing call times, recipients, durations, and locations — for the days surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Grassley said the move constituted “a direct surveillance of members of Congress,” raising constitutional and separation-of-powers concerns. “The Biden DOJ issued subpoenas to obtain our cell phone records,” Blackburn wrote in a letter co-signed by several affected lawmakers. “We have yet to learn of any legal predicate for doing so.” Blackburn has since accused Smith of having “spied on duly elected members of Congress” and called for his disbarment. The newly released records also show that 92 Republican or GOP-linked organizations and individuals — including prominent political groups such as Turning Point USA — were investigated under Arctic Frost. Grassley said that the operation “appeared to show Arctic Frost was much broader than just an electoral matter.” “Arctic Frost wasn’t just a case to politically investigate Trump,” Grassley said at a recent committee hearing. “It was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could achieve their partisan ends and improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus.” […]
The massive asifa against what organizers call the persecution of Torah learners, initially scheduled for Sunday, appeared likely to be postponed to early next week—either Monday or Tuesday—due to logistical challenges and requests from various factions seeking additional time for preparation.
The decision followed yesterday’s announcement by the Slabodka roshei yeshiva, Rav Dov Landau and Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, who had called for a large public gathering in defense of lomdei Torah. However, as planning intensified, it became clear that a short delay would allow for broader participation and coordination among the different Torah communities.
Sources confirmed that in the past day, a phone conversation took place between Rav Moshe Maya and Rav Avrohom Salim, during which they agreed to instruct their respective talmidim to attend the upcoming protest. The event is being billed as a united expression of opposition to government efforts seen as targeting yeshiva students through the ongoing draft legislation crisis.
Discussions are also underway regarding the location of the rally. While some are advocating for it to take place in Bnei Brak, others favor Yerushalayim. A final decision is expected soon.
{Matzav.com}
New York Attorney General Letitia James is set to make her first court appearance in a mortgage fraud case on Friday, the third adversary of President Donald Trump to face a judge on federal charges in recent weeks. James was indicted earlier this month on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution in connection with a 2020 home purchase in Norfolk, Virginia. The charges came shortly after the official who had been overseeing the investigation was pushed out by the Trump administration and the president publicly called on the Justice Department to take action against James and other of his political foes. James, a Democrat who has sued Trump and his administration dozens of times, has denied wrongdoing and decried the indictment as “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.” The indictment stems from James’ purchase of a modest house in Norfolk, where she has family. During the sale, she signed a standard document called a “second home rider” in which she agreed to keep the property primarily for her “personal use and enjoyment for at least one year,” unless the lender agreed otherwise. Rather than using the home as a second residence, the indictment alleges, James rented it out to a family of three. According to the indictment, the misrepresentation allowed James to obtain favorable loan terms not available for investment properties. James drew Trump’s ire when she won a staggering judgment against the president and his companies in a lawsuit alleging he defrauded banks by overstating the value of his real estate holdings on financial statements. An appeals court overturned the fine, which had ballooned to more than $500 million with interest, but upheld a lower court’s finding that Trump had committed fraud. James’ indictment followed the resignation of Erik Siebert as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after he resisted Trump administration pressure to bring charges. Siebert was replaced with Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide and former Trump lawyer who had never previously served as a federal prosecutor and presented James’ case to the grand jury herself. On Thursday, lawyers for James asked for an order prohibiting prosecutors from disclosing to the news media information about the investigation, or materials from the case, outside of court. The motion followed the revelation from earlier this week that Halligan contacted via an encrypted text messaging platform a reporter from Lawfare, a media organization that covers legal and national security issues, to discuss the James prosecution and complain about coverage of it. The reporter published the exchange that she and Halligan had. “The exchange was a stunning disclosure of internal government information,” lawyers for James wrote. They added: “It has been reported that Ms. Halligan has no prosecutorial experience whatsoever. But all federal prosecutors are required to know and follow the rules governing their conduct from their first day on the job, and so any lack of experience cannot excuse their violation.” The motion also asks that the government be required to preserve all communications with representatives of the media as well as to prevent the deletion of any records or communications related to the investigation and the prosecution of the case. Separately on Thursday, defense lawyers said they intended to challenge Halligan’s appointment, a […]
President Donald Trump announced that he plans to personally visit Gaza, describing himself as the key architect behind the fragile truce that brought an end to the recent Israel-Hamas conflict. In an interview released Thursday, he said the peace deal would not have been possible without his direct involvement.
“The most important thing,” Trump told Time magazine, “is they have to respect the president of the United States. The Middle East has to understand that.
“And they do. If you go to Qatar, if you go to Saudi Arabia, if you go to UAE, who are the three big ones, in that sense, they all respect the president, and if they’re not going to respect the president — it’s almost the president more so than the country. You understand that? If they don’t respect the president, and if the president doesn’t know what he’s doing, it could break apart. If they do respect the president, it’s going to be long-term beautiful peace.”
The president credited his own credibility and assertiveness with bringing the parties to the table. He said that respect for American leadership, not pressure or threats, was what ultimately stabilized the Middle East after months of bloodshed.
In the same conversation, Trump revealed that Saudi Arabia is poised to join the Abraham Accords before the end of the year, a move that would expand normalization between Israel and Arab nations. “They had a problem,” he said of Riyadh. “They had a Gaza problem and they had an Iran problem. Now they don’t have those two problems.”
The truce, reached on October 10, saw Hamas release its final 20 surviving Israeli hostages and begin returning the remains of more than two dozen others. The cease-fire remains fragile but has largely held since then.
Although Trump did not specify when his Gaza visit would take place, he made clear that his patience would run thin if Hamas violated the deal. He cautioned that “nobody would mind if we went in and took [Hamas] to task” should they renege on their commitments.
Convincing Israel to agree to the deal, Trump said, required firm persuasion. “Bibi, you can’t fight the world,” he recalled telling Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. “You can fight individual battles, but the world’s against you. And Israel is a very small place compared to the world.”
Trump also condemned Israel’s September 9 airstrike in Qatar that targeted Hamas political officials. “That was terrible,” he said, labeling it “a tactical mistake” by Israel. But in typical Trump fashion, he added that the blunder inadvertently accelerated diplomatic progress: “It was so out of joint that it sort of got everybody to do what they have to do. If you took that away, we might not be talking about this subject right now.”
While Trump reaffirmed his strong support for Israel’s security, he issued a clear warning against any attempt to annex the West Bank. “It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries,” he stated. “Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.”
In an unexpected comment, Trump said he has developed a personal rapport with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, describing him warmly despite Abbas’ fierce rivalry with Netanyahu. Abbas, 89, has led the Palestinian Authority since 2005 and participated in this month’s peace summit in Egypt that finalized the Gaza agreement.
Trump reflected on his long-standing relationship with Netanyahu, recalling how the Israeli leader had once urged that Trump be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. “I stopped him, because he would have just kept going,” Trump said. “It could have gone on for years. It would have gone on for years. And I stopped him, and everybody came together when I stopped, it was amazing.”
{Matzav.com}
Shock spread among Vizhnitzer Chassidim across the globe following the discovery of severe vandalism at the historic cemetery in Vizhnitsa, Ukraine, the resting place of generations of the Vizhnitzer Rebbes.
According to reports, antisemitic vandals broke through the cemetery fence under cover of night, trampling and smashing several gravestones in an act of deliberate desecration. The extent of the damage is said to be considerable. The attack took place just one day after the hilula of the Tzemach Tzaddik of Vizhnitz, which had drawn hundreds of Chassidim from around the world to daven at the kever.
Despite the extensive damage to tombstones and the surrounding cemetery grounds, community representatives described a “clear miracle of hashgacha pratis,” noting that the ohel containing the graves of the Vizhnitz Rebbes and the adjacent hachnosas orchim building were left untouched. It is believed the vandals may have been deterred by the presence of security cameras surrounding the area.
Early Thursday morning, representatives of Hagan Hanaah and Hachnosas Orchim arrived at the site and were stunned by the scale of destruction. They immediately filed a complaint with local authorities, who have opened a criminal investigation to identify those responsible.
Rav Moshe Hersh Stern, chairman of the Hachnosas Orchim organization, expressed determination in the face of the desecration: “Though this is a grave and painful incident, we will not be disheartened. The desecration of a cemetery is a heinous act, but we will do everything possible to restore this sacred site and preserve the dignity of the departed.”
He added that repair efforts are expected to begin in the coming days, including rebuilding the fence and restoring the damaged graves, and voiced confidence that “local police will bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Meanwhile, community leaders are already discussing ways to significantly strengthen security measures to ensure such appalling acts of hatred are never repeated.
{Matzav.com}
Russian military planes briefly violated Lithuania’s airspace Thursday evening, the Lithuanian president said, condemning what he called a blatant breach of the territorial integrity of his European Union and NATO-member country. Lithuania’s foreign ministry planned to summon Russian Embassy representatives in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius to protest the violation, President Gitanas Nausėda said in a post on the social media platform X. “This is a blatant breach of international law and territorial integrity of Lithuania,” Nausėda wrote on X. “Once again, it confirms the importance of strengthening European air defence readiness.” Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, rejected the Lithuanian claim that Russian fighter jets had intruded into its airspace. It said in a statement that Su-30 fighter jets on Thursday conducted training flights over the Kaliningrad region in strict compliance with the rules. “The aircraft did not deviate from their flight route or violate the borders of other states, as confirmed by objective monitoring means,” the ministry said. Baltic nations already have been on heightened alert over neighboring Russia’s aggression on Ukraine. And in recent weeks, a series of mysterious drone incidents and airspace violations by Russian war planes have fueled concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin might be testing NATO’s defensive reflexes. Some leaders have accused Putin of waging a hybrid war in Europe. Moscow denies probing NATO’s defenses. The Lithuanian armed forces said in a statement that about 6 p.m. local time on Thursday, two Russian military aircraft flew into Lithuanian airspace for about 700 meters (765 yards), The SU-30 aircraft and IL-78 refueling aircraft flew away after roughly 18 seconds. The Lithuanian armed forces believe the military planes might have been conducting refueling exercises in the neighboring Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Two Spanish fighter jets, which had been doing NATO air policing missions, were scrambled and flew out to the area. Earlier on Thursday, Nausėda attended a summit at the European Council building in Brussels where EU leaders endorsed a plan to ensure that Europe can defend itself against an outside attack by the end of the decade. The plan is dubbed Readiness 2030. (AP)
A tense Senate confirmation hearing erupted Thursday as Sen. Ted Cruz confronted Hamtramck, Michigan Mayor Amer Ghalib, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as U.S. ambassador to Kuwait, over a series of inflammatory past statements about Jews, Saddam Hussein, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Cruz said he would not support Ghalib’s nomination, telling the Democratic mayor that his record “stands in direct contradiction” to the Trump administration’s Middle East policy. “It appears you have a deep-felt and passionate view about the Middle East,” Cruz said. “But it is a view that is in direct conflict with the policy positions of President Trump and this administration.” Throughout the nearly hour-long exchange, Cruz grilled Ghalib on multiple social media posts and public statements that have resurfaced in recent weeks — including one in which he referred to Saddam Hussein as a “martyr,” another praising the Muslim Brotherhood as “inspirational,” and a third in which he appeared to endorse an antisemitic comment describing Jews as “monkeys for their own benefit.” When pressed by Cruz to clarify his view of Saddam Hussein, Ghalib initially said his 2020 comments were made “in a moment of anger” following an Iranian missile strike on U.S. bases in Iraq. “It was the day of January 7, 2020, when our military bases were attacked by Iran,” Ghalib said. “And in a moment of anger because we didn’t respond.” But Cruz continued: “Do you continue to believe Saddam Hussein was a martyr?” “Senator, I don’t think that. No doubt Saddam was a dictator,” Ghalib replied. “If this offended anybody who suffered from Saddam or lost a loved one, I apologize.” Pressed again for a direct answer, Ghalib added, “It wouldn’t matter — he’s in God’s hand. He will get the treatment he deserves.” Cruz then turned to Ghalib’s post lauding the Muslim Brotherhood — a group the Texas senator has sought to designate as a terrorist organization. “How would you be able to serve as an ambassador if President Trump designates the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization?” Cruz asked. “I would trust the president,” Ghalib replied. “If it’s designated, I will be committed to implement President Trump’s policies.” Ghalib defended his past social media activity, attributing some of the controversy to what he described as “bad habits” and “mistranslations” from Arabic. “Before I became mayor, I used to have a bad habit of acknowledging every post, every comment under my post,” he said. “Doesn’t mean I agree with it.” He claimed one of the antisemitic posts Cruz cited had been misinterpreted. “There was a response under that [post] that was not translated, which said, ‘You can say this in your country, but not in this country,’ meaning I didn’t agree with that post,” Ghalib said. “I know it was a bad habit, but let me be clear: I don’t agree with that statement, and I treat everybody with respect in my official capacity.” Ghalib, who became Hamtramck’s first Muslim mayor in 2021, has faced scrutiny for years over comments sympathetic to extremist ideologies. His nomination by President Trump earlier this fall drew bipartisan skepticism, but Thursday’s hearing marked the most direct confrontation to date. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara sent a letter on Thursday to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordering him to increase enforcement efforts against bnei yeshivos. She claimed in her letter that the current situation “constitutes a severe violation of equality, which cannot be legally justified.” She did not address the issue of the violation of religious rights being carried out against bnei yeshivos. MK Meir Porush responded, “The Attorney General’s latest letter to the Prime Minister once again reflects her obsession with targeting the Torah world. Never before has any issue received such attention from an attorney general.” “Baharav-Miara is essentially the Attorney General for persecuting the Torah world. The prime minister knows that the more he acts in accordance with her wishes, the more she will demand additional sanctions that will harm Am Yisrael.” A day earlier, following the arrests of several bnei yeshivos, Porush stated, “Once again, the Attorney General sent the Military Police to arrest young men whose only ‘crime’ is limmud Torah.” “Although months of this draconian rampage against the Torah world have failed to achieve the goals she set, she refuses to acknowledge her failure and is trying to drag the Jewish people into a civil war.” Baharav-Miara is also continuing her campaign to invent new sanctions against Chareidim. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Cornell University is facing a storm of outrage after its student newspaper, The Cornell Daily Sun, published a professor’s op-ed accompanied by a shocking illustration — a bloodied Star of David defaced with Nazi “SS” lightning bolts drawn onto the back of a Palestinian person. The image, which appeared alongside an article by Professor Karim-Aly Kassam, ignited immediate backlash from students, faculty, and Jewish advocacy groups who called it a grotesque act of antisemitism and Holocaust inversion. The newspaper quickly took down the graphic and later republished the piece without it, but the controversy has exposed growing concerns about the campus’s cultural climate. “To me, it reflects the normalization of Holocaust inversion, both on the internet and now on Cornell’s campus,” said William Jacobson, a Cornell Law School professor and founder of Legal Insurrection, a conservative website. “This graphic is specifically inside a bloody Jewish star — no reflection of Israel at all. It clearly pursues the idea that Jews are the new Nazis. It’s obviously highly offensive.” The “SS” insignia depicted in the image was the symbol of Adolf Hitler’s secret police, the Schutzstaffel — the organization responsible for mass atrocities during the Holocaust. Kassam’s op-ed, titled “Thousand & One Eyes for An Eye,” accused Israel of seeking revenge in Gaza and equated its rhetoric toward Palestinians to that of Nazi Germany toward European Jews. “It is not unlike what the Nazis said about another peoples living in Europe to justify their genocide,” he wrote. The article was published just days after the second anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel. Backlash poured in on social media, which decried the illustration as antisemitic propaganda. Under mounting pressure, Kassam issued a statement to The New York Post, saying, “I am deeply saddened to learn that this portion of the artwork has been interpreted by some as antisemitic. That was not my intention, and I have learned from this experience.” An editor at The Cornell Daily Sun later defended Kassam in a column, arguing that the professor “did not imply that the state of Israel is equal to Nazi Germany,” but apologized for allowing the graphic to appear in the first place. Jacobson, who has long criticized the campus for what he describes as growing hostility toward Jewish students, said the episode points to a broader issue. “If a professor feels comfortable sharing a graphic like this, and the Daily Sun initially felt comfortable running it, that reflects a very toxic campus culture,” he said. “The lesson here is not to censor people but to understand what’s happened on campus. It shines a light on a profound problem.” The controversy comes as Cornell continues to grapple with allegations of discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students. Jacobson’s organization, the Equal Protection Project, is reportedly preparing a civil rights complaint on behalf of Oren Renard, an Israeli student who said he was pushed out of a class because of his national origin. Cornell’s Office of Civil Rights recently issued a finding of discrimination in that case — further evidence of a university struggling to confront deep-seated bias. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The U.S. military flew a pair of supersonic, heavy bombers up to the coast of Venezuela on Thursday, a little over a week after another group of American bombers made a similar journey as part of a training exercise to simulate an attack. The U.S. military has built up an unusually large force in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off of Venezuela, raising speculation that President Donald Trump could try to topple Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S. Adding to the speculation, the U.S. military since early September has been carrying out lethal strikes on vessels in the waters off Venezuela that Trump says are trafficking drugs. According to flight tracking data, a pair of B-1 Lancer bombers took off from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas on Thursday and flew through the Caribbean and up to the coast of Venezuela. A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations, confirmed that a training flight of B-1s took place in the Caribbean. The B-1 bomber can carry more bombs than any other plane in the U.S. inventory. A similar flight of slower B-52 Stratofortress bombers was conducted in the region last week. The bombers were joined by Marine Corps F-35B stealth fighter jets — a squadron is currently based in Puerto Rico — for what the Pentagon called a “bomber attack demo” in photos online. When Trump was asked about Thursday’s B-1 flight and if it was meant to ramp up military pressure on Venezuela, he said, “it’s false, but we’re not happy with Venezuela for a lot of reasons. Drugs being one of them.” The U.S. force in the Caribbean includes eight warships, P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, MQ-9 Reaper drones and an F-35 fighter squadron. A submarine has also been confirmed to be operating in the waters off South America. Trump on Wednesday said he has the “legal authority” to carry out the strikes on the alleged drug-carrying boats and suggested similar strikes could be done on land. “We will hit them very hard when they come in by land,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “We’re totally prepared to do that. And we’ll probably go back to Congress and explain exactly what we’re doing when we come to the land.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that the military had conducted its ninth strike, killing three people in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It followed a strike Tuesday night, also in the eastern Pacific, that killed two people and brought the overall death toll from the strikes to at least 37. The latest pair of strikes expanded the Trump administration’s campaign against drug trafficking in South America from the waters of the Caribbean to the eastern Pacific. Hegseth has drawn a direct comparison between the war on terrorism that the U.S. declared after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the Trump administration’s crackdown. “Our message to these foreign terrorist organizations is we will treat you like we have treated al-Qaeda,” Hegseth told reporters on Thursday at the White House. “We will find you, we will map your networks, we will hunt you down, and we will kill you,” he added. (AP)
HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Zilberstein published words of chizzuk after several bnei yeshivos were arrested by military police and thrown into prison. HaRav Zilberstein wrote, “We are living in very complex times, as what is stated in Masechtas Kesuvos (112b) has been fulfilled in us. Amar Rebbi Zeira said in the name of Rebbi Yirmiyah bar Abba, ‘In the generation when the son of Dovid comes, there will be accusations against talmidei chachamim.’ When this was told before Shmuel, he said, ‘One affliction after another.’ Rav Yosef taught, ‘Confiscations upon confiscations.'” “And behold, here in Eretz Yisrael—to our great sorrow—it is the only place in the world where lomdei Torah are persecuted, and they seek to imprison them for the ‘crime’ of learning Torah and for wanting to guard their Yahadus and not be corrupted in questionable places, from which no one emerges with the same Yiras Shamayim with which he entered.” “This situation shouldn’t frighten the avreichim and bochurim at all because until now, we learned Torah because we could—but now, we must prove that we don’t learn Torah because it is easy, but because it is the will of the Borei and we are prepared to be mekadeish Shem Shamayim…and to continue learning Torah above all. “I have received as a kabbalah that truth ultimately prevails. We have been in galus for 1,956 years, and many have risen against the Torah and those who uphold it—and none have succeeded. Am Yisrael chai v’kayam and clings to the Torah, and so it shall remain until the coming of Moshiach, speedily in our days. “Now that we must learn Torah with mesirus nefesh, we must cling to it all the more. Let us accept upon ourselves the yoke of Torah in the fullest sense, and it will be fulfilled in us as it says in Pirkei Avos: ‘Whoever accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah, the yoke of government and worldly concerns will be removed from him.’ I am confident that whoever takes upon himself the yoke of Torah will not be harmed by the financial decrees! “In earlier generations, in the galus, great Talmidei Chachamim emerged from the yeshivos—because they learned with mesirus nefesh. They had almost no physical comforts. They learned with little food, eating meals at the homes of kind ba’alei batim, often without even a bed to sleep in. They learned with tremendous mesiras nefesh and ahavas Torah. “Today, baruch Hashem, the generation is fortunate—there are vast numbers of lomdei Torah in yeshivos who uphold the world. But what has been lacking is mesirus nefesh for Torah. To truly flourish, there must also be mesirus nefesh and a demonstration of love for Hakadosh Baruch Hu. “In our time, bnei yeshivos—the elite of Am Yisrael—are being persecuted, the ones who sustain the world, in whose zechus we continue to exist here in Eretz Yisrael, surrounded by cruel, bloodthirsty enemies. Everyone understands that we live here only via nissim. There is no natural explanation for our survival other than that Hakadosh Baruch Hu protects us through the zechus of lomdei Torah. “There are now terrible accusations against those who learn Torah, but the lomdim continue with mesirus nefesh, and they are mekadeish shem Shamayim. And in the zechus of this limud with such devotion, Am Yisrael is granted greater […]
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