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Two National Guard members were struck by gunfire in downtown Washington on Wednesday, an attack that unfolded only a few blocks from the White House and left one of the soldiers fighting for his life, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the scene.

Authorities say the shooting took place in the area of Farragut Square, a busy stretch of Northwest DC less than half a mile from the White House. Images captured immediately after the incident showed one of the victims with an apparent head wound. DC’s Metro Police confirmed the location at 17th and I Street, NW, and noted that a suspect had already been taken into custody. Agents from the FBI, ATF, and the Secret Service also rushed to the area.

At the moment of the attack, both President Trump and Vice President JD Vance were out of Washington — Trump in Florida and Vance meeting with troops stationed in Kentucky.

Shortly after being briefed, Trump posted a strongly worded message on Truth Social: “The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen, with both being critically wounded, and now in two separate hospitals, is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price.” He followed it with another statement reading, “God bless our Great National Guard, and all of our Military and Law Enforcement. These are truly Great People. I, as President of the United States, and everyone associated with the Office of the Presidency, am with you!”

Emergency crews secured the plaza, which sits amid restaurants, offices, and shops between the Farragut West and Farragut North Metro stations. According to initial accounts, CPR was administered to at least one of the wounded soldiers. The suspect was transported to a DC hospital.

The shooting rippled into the broader region as security officials issued a temporary ground stop at Ronald Reagan National Airport for departing flights. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, “The White House is aware and actively monitoring this tragic situation. The President has been briefed.”

Photographs showed Secret Service personnel sprinting toward the square moments after multiple rounds were fired. Early indications pointed to National Guard troops as the intended targets, and witnesses relayed to one bystander that they heard no fewer than seven shots.

{Matzav.com}

A judge on Wednesday dismissed the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others after the prosecutor who took over the case said he would not pursue the charges, ending the last effort to punish the president in the courts for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ […]

UPDATE: DC Police is reporting the scene secure with one suspect in custody.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is barring South Africa from participating in the Group of 20 summit next year in Miami and will “stop all payments and subsidies” to the country over its treatment of a U.S. government representative at this year’s global meeting. Trump chose not to have an American delegation attend […]

The National Park Service said Tuesday it is going to start charging the millions of international tourists who visit U.S. parks each year an extra $100 to enter some of the most popular sites, while leaving them out of fee-free days that will be reserved for American residents. The announcement declaring “America-first entry fee policies” […]

A horrifying photo shows one of the two National Guard members who have been shot near the White House. The conditions of both are unclear.

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Two sources confirm to Fox News that two National Guard members were shot in Washington, D.C. about a mile from the White House, but their conditions are not known. The whereabouts of the alleged shooter are not known.

BREAKING UPDATE: At least 2 National Guard members have been shot near the White House – AP

BREAKING: A National Guard soldier has reportedly been SHOT outside the White House Condition is unknown, and it is not clear who shot them.

A sweeping challenge to President Trump and a group of his allies over the 2020 election came to an abrupt end on Wednesday, when the newly installed prosecutor announced he was abandoning the case entirely. Within minutes, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee signed off on the request, bringing the long-running prosecution to a full stop.

Judge McAfee issued a brief ruling granting the motion almost immediately after it was filed, writing simply: “This case is hereby dismissed in its entirety.”

The move came from Peter Skandalakis, who had stepped in to run the case after a year-long ordeal in which he attempted — unsuccessfully — to find an outside attorney willing to take over following the removal of District Attorney Fani Willis. In a 23-page explanation, Skandalakis admitted that the sprawling prosecution “is on life support and the decision [on] what to do with it falls on me and me alone.”

He went on to argue that the matter never belonged in state court to begin with. Skandalakis pointed directly to Jack Smith’s decision to abandon the federal version of the Georgia allegations after Trump’s 2024 victory, noting that the special counsel had concluded the case was barred by Department of Justice policy prohibiting charges against a sitting president. “If Special Counsel Jack Smith, with all the resources of the federal government at his disposal… concluded that prosecution would be fruitless,” Skandalakis wrote, “then I too find that, despite the available evidence, pursuing the prosecution… would be equally unproductive.”

Trump’s attorney Steve Sadow welcomed the development and praised the prosecutor, saying, “The political persecution of President Trump by disqualified DA Fani Willis is finally over. This case should never have been brought. A fair and impartial prosecutor has put an end to this lawfare.” Sadow described Skandalakis as “a fair and impartial prosecutor.”

Skandalakis had announced earlier this month that he was assuming responsibility for the case after being unable to secure “another conflict prosecutor,” warning that the deadline to appoint someone was reaching its end and risked dismissal if no replacement was found.

The original indictment, issued on Aug. 14, 2023, named Trump and 18 others on charges ranging from racketeering to conspiracy. Nine days later, Trump traveled to Atlanta for booking, becoming the first president in American history to sit for a mugshot. The roster of co-defendants included figures such as Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, Mark Meadows, Jeffrey Clark, Michael Roman, Scott Hall, Cathy Latham, David Shafer, Ray Smith, Robert Cheeley, Shawn Still, Harrison Floyd, Misty Hampton, Stephen Lee, and Trevian Kutti. Four of them — Chesebro, Ellis, Hall, and Powell — entered guilty pleas in late 2023, receiving probation and other penalties.

But the case’s momentum had already been severely damaged by the scandal involving Willis and Nathan Wade, whom she had appointed as a special prosecutor. After revelations that the two had been in a personal relationship, Wade was pushed off the case in March 2024. The Georgia Court of Appeals then barred Willis and her office from any further involvement on June 3. Her final attempt to stay on the matter ended in September 2025, when the state’s Supreme Court refused to hear her appeal.

In his dismissal motion, Skandalakis laid out several reasons the case could not responsibly continue. He pointed out that the trial might not begin for a decade, given that Trump is not due to leave office until January 2029. He also emphasized that his office lacks the staff and resources required to manage a massive RICO prosecution of this size, and questioned the entire theory of the indictment. Actions listed as part of the alleged conspiracy — he wrote — were nowhere near sufficient to support a racketeering charge. “Overt acts such as arranging a phone call, issuing a public statement, tweeting to the public to watch the Georgia Senate subcommittee hearings… are not acts I would consider sufficient to sustain a RICO case,” Skandalakis wrote.

With Wednesday’s ruling, all criminal cases against Trump have now been closed. The only remaining courtroom battle is his appeal of the Manhattan verdict on 34 counts related to business records, for which he was given no punishment at sentencing.

{Matzav.com}

A forceful public letter was released today by the Chief Rav of Israel, Rishon LeTzion Rav David Yosef, addressing the frightening rise of domestic abuse and urging Klal Yisroel to eradicate this destructive behavior from our midst.

In strong language, the Chief Rav wrote that any form of assault within the home is a grave aveirah that runs counter to the very foundations of Torah life. He stressed that batei din are obligated to deal with such cases immediately and without leniency.

Rav Yosef lamented that “Sadly, we sometimes hear about severe cases of fighting and violence within families, even to the point of raising hands. Such acts are like those of the gentiles, devoid of manners and values, who have lost all human dignity. Our holy Torah calls such a person: ‘a wicked man.’” He described these episodes as foreign to a Jewish home and contrary to every value embedded in halachah.

He invoked the powerful warnings of his father, Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l, who repeatedly denounced anyone who dares strike his wife. As he wrote, “As is known, my revered father, Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l, warned many times and said sharp and precise words against the ‘wicked’ man who dares to raise his hands, especially against his wife, the queen of his home. ‘Cut off the hand of anyone who raises a hand against his wife. This is a serious sin, this is the act of gentiles, not the act of a Jew.’”

The Chief Rav made clear that the psak in batei din is unequivocal: “Any manifestation of violence, of any kind, is handled immediately, with great severity and seriousness by the esteemed judges.” He stressed that there is no tolerance or delay when dealing with such behavior.

Turning to the rabbanim and leaders in the field, Rav Yosef urged them to take an active role in helping victims and guiding them toward proper support. He wrote, “From here, I call on all community rabbis and public leaders in their respective areas, to stand by the victims, guide and direct them, and at times even immediately involve treatment agencies and law enforcement authorities, and to eradicate this scourge from among us, as it is a matter of life and death.”

Rav Yosef closed his powerful letter with an appeal to every member of Klal Yisroel: “To all our brothers and sisters, all the children of Israel, I send this call with affection: honor and cherish your wives. The woman is the crown of the home; she is the blessing of the home. Woe to the soul of anyone who does not know how to respect the honor of his wife, as this is one of the foundations of our Judaism.”

{Matzav.com}

Israeli officials have begun advancing steps tied to President Donald Trump’s Gaza framework, according to a Kan News update on Wednesday, as Washington intensifies its demands and the number of murdered hostages still inside Gaza continues to fall.

Military sources say the IDF is gearing up to bring large engineering vehicles into Rafah soon—possibly within the coming week—to start removing debris. This clearing work is intended to pave the way for a new humanitarian zone for Gazan civilians, one that would be completely out of Hamas’ hands.

Defense officials indicated that Israel has already updated the armed factions working alongside it in the area, explaining that the coordinated effort is meant to build a section of territory insulated from Hamas control. They described this as an early, practical step toward initiating the next part of the plan.

Under the American outline, a multinational force is eventually supposed to take responsibility for this secured zone, dubbed “New Gaza,” which currently remains under Israeli oversight. However, while several countries have signaled readiness to send troops, they remain unwilling to operate in “Old Gaza,” where Hamas still maintains its grip.

IDF units have already begun some of the groundwork in Rafah, including removing unexploded munitions and filling tunnels with concrete. Military officials said that even if discussions over the plan move forward, Hamas’ steadfast refusal to disarm means that these engineering activities still serve Israel’s goal of weakening and dismantling terrorist networks.

The scope of these preparations does not extend to Rafah’s Janina district, which Israeli intelligence believes still shelters dozens of underground Hamas operatives.

{Matzav.com}

As diplomatic pressure intensifies, Hamas officials are continuing to defend their stance on the group’s weapons, even as outside actors push for commitments ahead of the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire framework.

During an interview with al-Hadath/al-Arabiya, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem reiterated that decisions about arms cannot be imposed from the outside. He insisted that “the issue of weapons should first be resolved within national dialogue and internal consultation, reaching political understandings related to the overall Palestinian situation,” making clear that internal agreement must drive any decision.

Qassem underscored that the conversation around disarmament “is connected to internal consensus, and is also tied to a real political process that leads to an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, far from the Israeli logic that speaks of disarmament and similar terms.” He framed the debate as inseparable from broader political objectives.

He stressed that Hamas views its participation in ceasefire talks as proof of its readiness to advance. According to him, the organization has “fully committed to everything required in the first stage in order to open the way for transitioning to the second stage, which Israel continues to obstruct,” a claim he said explains the current deadlock.

Qassem described recent engagements with international actors as part of that effort. Hamas, he said, has been conducting discussions with Egyptian, Turkish, and Qatari representatives, as well as with other Palestinian groups, “to consult and engage in dialogue, and to reach agreed-upon national political understandings to move into the second stage,” noting that this next phase “contains further matters and complications and requires national consensus before entering it.”

He also said the movement has tried to show goodwill during these talks, explaining that “the movement is working seriously to reach the second stage, with all the arrangements it requires regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip.” He pointed to the delegation’s trip to Cairo as evidence that Hamas “is serious” about preparing for what comes next.

The roadmap announced by President Donald Trump on October 10, 2025, sought to halt hostilities and chart a political course for Gaza, calling for the Strip’s disarmament and the creation of a technocratic Palestinian administration overseen by the international community.

While those provisions remain key sticking points, Hamas officials have continued to say that the weapons question remains open. Earlier in the week, senior Hamas figure Khalil al-Hayya maintained that the matter “is tied to the end of the Israeli occupation,” indicating that the group does not view disarmament as imminent.

At the same time, international pressure is growing. Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stated that his government is urging Hamas to accept the necessity of disarmament, noting that Doha believes the group is signaling readiness to step away from governing Gaza.

{Matzav.com}

According to a report by the Iranian opposition outlet Iran International, the Mossad thwarted an Iranian Quds Force plot to carry out attacks against Israeli diplomats in Senegal and Uganda. The report says Iran recruited operatives from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and several African countries to gather intelligence on Israeli embassies and prepare violent attacks. According to […]

Tucked in a two-sentence footnote in a voluminous court opinion, a federal judge recently called out immigration agents using artificial intelligence to write use-of-force reports, raising concerns that it could lead to inaccuracies and further erode public confidence in how police have handled the immigration crackdown in the Chicago area and ensuing protests. U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis wrote […]

At the Yeshiva of St. Louis (MTI), our top-notch chinuch and five-star campus cultivate Bnei Torah who are ready to meet today’s challenges and become tomorrow’s leaders of Klal Yisroel. With talmidim from 33 cities across the country, MTI is a true makom Torah where every bochur can thrive. Looking for an out-of-town dorm Mesivta […]

Lakewood Apartment Rentals has quickly become the fastest-growing listing platform in the Lakewood area. In just a year and a half, the platform has already featured hundreds of rental listings, helping landlords and tenants connect quickly, easily, and efficiently. With an impressive 5,000+ views on WhatsApp and thousands of website visitors every week, listings receive […]

Former New York City Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker is breaking his silence after abruptly resigning just hours following Zohran Mamdani’s stunning mayoral election win, revealing that it was the Democratic socialist’s campaign rhetoric on Israel that drove him out the door. In a newly released clip from an upcoming CBS Mornings interview, Tucker — a […]

The IDF released new documentation from the battle fought by the Golani Reconnaissance Unit deep inside Lebanon, marking one year since the unit crossed the Litani River on November 26, 2024. The footage shows the moment a terrorist was spotted in the river and eliminated by Golani soldiers. During the fighting, the troops also located […]