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House Speaker Mike Johnson is heeding the demands of the more conservative wing of his Republican conference and has teed up a vote this week on a bill that would keep the federal government funded for six more months and require states to obtain proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, when registering a person to vote. Congress needs to approve a stop-gap spending bill before the end of the budget year on Sept. 30 to avoid a government shutdown just a few weeks before voters go the polls and elect the next president. Johnson’s decision to combine the proof of citizenship mandate with government funding complicates prospects for getting that task done. The bill is not expected to go anywhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate, if it even makes it that far. But the effort could help Johnson, R-La., next year should House Republicans retain their majority and he seeks to become speaker again. The vote also could give Republicans an issue to go after Democrats in competitive swing districts as Republicans make immigration-related matters a campaign cornerstone. “Today, House Republicans are taking a critically important step to keep the federal government funded and to secure our federal election process,” Johnson said Friday. “Congress has a responsibility to do both, and we must ensure that only American citizens can decide American elections.” Democrats will oppose the GOP effort overwhelmingly and warn that any continuing resolution must have buy-in from both political parties. They said Johnson was making the same mistake then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., did a year ago as he tried to placate conservatives. In the end, they rejected his efforts, forcing him to rely on Democrats to get a temporary spending bill passed. That fight led just a few days later to eight Republicans joining with Democrats in removing McCarthy from the speaker’s job. “As we have said repeatedly, avoiding a government shutdown requires bipartisanship, not a bill drawn up by one party. Speaker Johnson is making the same mistake as former Speaker McCarthy did a year ago, by wasting precious time catering to the hard MAGA right, Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Patty Murray of Washington state said in a statement, referring to Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. “This tactic didn’t work last September and it will not work this year either.” They said that if Johnson “drives House Republicans down this highly partisan path, the odds of a shutdown go way up, and Americans will know that the responsibility of a shutdown will be on the House Republicans’ hands.” Schumer is the Senate’s majority leader. Murray leads the Senate Appropriations Committee. The voter registration measure is popular with House Republicans. The House Freedom Caucus, which generally includes the chamber’s most conservative members, called for it to be attached to a stop-gap bill that would keep the government funded into early 2025. Republicans say that requiring proof of citizenship would ensure U.S. elections are only for American citizens, improving confidence in the nation’s federal election system, something that Trump has sought to undermine over the years. Opponents say it is already against the law for noncitizens to vote in federal elections and that the document requirements would disenfranchise millions of people who do not have the necessary documents readily available […]

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After years of Democrats suggesting the use of the 25th Amendment against him, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is now proposing a change to use it as a potential countermeasure against Vice President Kamala Harris for allegedly “covering” up President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline.

“I will support modifying the 25th Amendment to make clear that if a vice president lies or engages in a conspiracy to cover up the incapacity of the president of the United States, if you do that with a cover-up of the president of the United States, it’s grounds for impeachment immediately and removal from office,” Trump declared during a campaign rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin. “Because that’s what they did. That’s what they did.”

Along with hinting at the upcoming Tuesday debate against Harris, Trump reminded his followers that Biden would still be the Democratic nominee if Harris and other Democrats had continued to conceal Biden’s cognitive issues, which became apparent during the June debate—the earliest in presidential campaign history.

“You know, think of it: if he didn’t go to that debate, he’d still be running,” Trump said. “To every citizen who is sick and tired of the parasitic political class in Washington that sucks our country of its blood and treasure, Nov. 5 will be your liberation day. Nov. 5 this year will be the most important day in the history of our country, because we’re not going to have a country anymore if we don’t win. It will be the most important day in the history of our country.”

Earlier in the day, presidential adviser Dick Morris suggested that Harris, too, was attempting to back out of the single debate she had agreed to, fearing the stark contrast with Trump.

According to Morris, Harris’ concerns over the use of muted microphones were merely an excuse to avoid being held accountable to the public. “I think she was trying to get out of the debate,” Morris said on “Saturday Report.” “This debate will be make or break for her. And she can do all the fluffy appearances with no mics she wants. But when they actually ask her a question, she’s got to answer. And the debate is an hour and a half of those. So I think she was trying to get out of it any way she could.”

{Matzav.com}

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged Islamic nations to unite against what he described as “the growing threat of expansionism” from Israel during a speech on Saturday. His comments followed the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a dual U.S.-Turkish citizen and activist with the International Solidarity Movement, during a protest near Nablus (Shechem). The IDF is investigating allegations that Eygi was shot by Israeli forces. Speaking at an event organized by an Islamic schools’ association near Istanbul, Erdoğan declared, “The only step that will stop Israeli arrogance, Israeli banditry, and Israeli state terrorism is the alliance of Islamic countries.” He further claimed that Israel seeks to conquer Muslim lands beyond Gaza, including territories in Syria, Lebanon, and even Turkey. Erdoğan’s rhetoric has grown increasingly hostile toward Israel, especially since the Hamas-led massacre in Israel on October 7. Turkey, along with Qatar, is a state supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is a Palestinian branch. In his speech, Erdoğan claimed that Israel’s ambitions extend beyond Gaza and that Hamas is defending not only Palestinian territory but also other Islamic lands, including Turkey. “Hamas does not only defend Gaza, it defends the Islamic lands, including Turkey,” Erdoğan insisted. The Turkish president also highlighted recent efforts by Ankara to improve relations with Egypt and Syria, describing them as part of a broader strategy to create a united front against Israel’s alleged expansionism. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s visit to Turkey last week marked a significant step in warming relations between the two nations, while Erdoğan has expressed willingness to engage in talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad to restore ties severed during the Syrian Civil War. Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded sharply to Erdoğan’s remarks, accusing him of incitement and spreading dangerous falsehoods. “Today, he calls on Islamic nations to form an alliance against Israel, claiming ‘Israel wants to conquer countries in the region, including Turkey.’ This is a dangerous lie and incitement,” Katz said. “Israel is defending its borders and citizens from the murderers and rapists of Hamas, and from the Shi’ite axis of evil led by Iran. Erdogan and the Muslim Brotherhood alliance have been working for years alongside Iran to undermine moderate Arab regimes in the Middle East. Erdogan should be silent and ashamed.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Former President George W. Bush finally revealed how he’d vote in the 2024 election—by choosing not to say who.

“He retired from presidential politics many years ago,” a Bush spokesman told the Daily Mail when asked who Bush and his wife Laura Bush would be voting for, refusing to name a specific presidential candidate.

Bush’s last presidential endorsement was for Mitt Romney in 2012. He didn’t vote for either 2016 candidate and wrote in his former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2020. Bush’s stance is a break from his vice president Dick Cheney, who made a surprise endorsement of Kamala Harris last week.

Cheney said Donald Trump could “never be trusted with power again” after his attempts to overturn the 2020 election culminated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. “In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney, 83, said in a statement on Friday. Read more at the Daily Mail.

{Matzav.com}

The secret to avoiding red lights during rush hour in Utah’s largest city might be as simple as following a bus. Transportation officials have spent the past few years refining a system in which radio transmitters inside commuter buses talk directly to the traffic signals in the Salt Lake City area, requesting a few extra seconds of green when they approach. Congestion on these so-called smart streets is already noticeably smoother, but it’s just a small preview of the high-tech upgrades that could be coming soon to roads across Utah and ultimately across the U.S. Buoyed by a $20 million federal grant and an ambitious calling to “Connect the West,” the goal is to ensure every vehicle in Utah, as well as neighboring Colorado and Wyoming, can eventually communicate with one another and the roadside infrastructure about congestion, accidents, road hazards and weather conditions. With that knowledge, drivers can instantly know they should take another route, bypassing the need for a human to manually send an alert to an electronic street sign or the mapping apps found on cellphones. “A vehicle can tell us a lot about what’s going on in the roadway,” said Blaine Leonard, a transportation technology engineer at the Utah Department of Transportation. “Maybe it braked really hard, or the windshield wipers are on, or the wheels are slipping. The car anonymously broadcasts to us that blip of data 10 times a second, giving us a constant stream of information.” When cars transmit information in real time to other cars and the various sensors posted along and above the road, the technology is known broadly as vehicle-to-everything, or V2X. Last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation unveiled a national blueprint for how state and local governments and private companies should deploy the various V2X projects already in the works to make sure everyone is on the same page. The overarching objective is universal: dramatically curb roadway deaths and serious injuries, which have recently spiked to historic levels. A 2016 analysis by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concluded V2X could help. Implementing just two of the earliest vehicle-to-everything applications nationwide would prevent 439,000 to 615,000 crashes and save 987 to 1,366 lives, its research found. Dan Langenkamp has been lobbying for road safety improvements since his wife Sarah Langenkamp, a U.S. diplomat, was killed by a truck while biking in Maryland in 2022. Joining officials at the news conference announcing the vehicle-to-everything blueprint, Langenkamp urged governments across the U.S. to roll out the technology as widely and quickly as possible. “How can we as government officials, as manufacturers, and just as Americans not push this technology forward as fast as we possibly can, knowing that we have the power to rescue ourselves from this disaster, this crisis on our roads,” he said. Most of the public resistance has been about privacy. Although the V2X rollout plan commits to safeguarding personal information, some privacy advocates remain skeptical. Critics say that while the system may not track specific vehicles, it can compile enough identifying characteristics — even something as seemingly innocuous as tire pressure levels — that it wouldn’t take too much work to figure out who is behind the wheel and where they are going. “Once you get enough unique information, you can reasonably say the car that […]

The IDF continues to ramp up military activity in the Rafah area of southern Gaza, where troops have eliminated several terrorists, carried out targeted raids on militant infrastructure, and uncovered large stockpiles of weapons. On Tuesday, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) successfully eliminated Raef Omar Salman Abu Shab, the commander of the rocket-launching unit within Hamas’ eastern Khan Yunis battalion. Abu Shab had been orchestrating rocket attacks from Khan Yunis, targeting southern and central Israel since the onset of the conflict. In addition, IDF troops remain active in the central Gaza Strip, where several terrorists posing an immediate threat to Israeli forces were neutralized in the past day. Meanwhile, the IAF launched strikes on around 25 Hamas targets across Gaza, including militant groups, military installations, and terror infrastructure. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu discussed the tragic attack that claimed the lives of three Israeli civilians at the Allenby Crossing during Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting.

“This is a difficult day. A barbaric terrorist murdered three of our citizens in cold blood at the Allenby Bridge. On behalf of the Government and myself, I send condolences to the families of those who were murdered,” Netanyahu stated. “We are surrounded by a murderous ideology led by Iran’s axis of evil.”

Referring to recent violence, he added, “In recent days, abominable terrorists murdered six of our hostages and three Israel Police officers in cold blood. The murderers do not differentiate between us. They want to murder us all, right and left, secular and religious, Jews and non-Jews, down to the last one.”

Netanyahu emphasized that the survival of the Jewish people today is a direct result of Israel’s strength and the bravery of its defense forces. “What prevents the destruction of our people, as in previous times, is the strength of the State of Israel and the power of the IDF: Our soldiers’ spirit of heroism, the police officers, the men and women of our security forces, the supreme sacrifice of our fallen heroes and the stamina of our people – these make all the difference. When we stand together, our enemies cannot overcome us; therefore, their main objective is to divide us and to sow discord among us.”

He then addressed Hamas’ psychological tactics aimed at Israel. “Last weekend, the German newspaper Bild published an official Hamas document that revealed its action plan: To sow discord among us, to use psychological warfare on the hostages’ families, to apply internal and external political pressure on the Government of Israel, to tear us part from within, and to continue the war until further notice, until Israel is defeated.”

Despite these efforts, Netanyahu expressed confidence in the unity and determination of the Israeli people. “The great majority of Israel’s citizens are not falling into this Hamas trap. They know that we are fully committed to achieving the objectives of the war: To eliminate Hamas, to return all of our hostages, to ensure that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel and to return our residents in the north and south securely to their homes,” he said. “We will stand together. We will wield the sword of David together and with G-d’s help, we will win.”

In conclusion, Netanyahu addressed those questioning whether the conflict would ever end, remarking, “One more word. There are those who ask – ‘Shall the sword devour forever?’ In the Middle East, without the sword, there is no ‘forever.'”

{Matzav.com}

A newly uncovered Hamas document suggests the terror group’s primary objective in ceasefire negotiations with Israel is to rebuild its military strength, rather than alleviate the hardships faced by Gaza’s civilian population, according to a report published by German newspaper Bild on Friday. The document, dated from the spring of 2024 and reportedly found on a computer belonging to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, details Hamas’s strategy in negotiations with Israel. It focuses on using ceasefire talks to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners and regain military capabilities, with little regard for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Hamas reportedly shows indifference to whether the ongoing conflict, now in its 12th month, ends swiftly. Instead, the group prioritizes “exhausting” Israel’s military and political apparatus while increasing international pressure. Despite acknowledging that its military strength has been diminished, Hamas expresses interest in prolonging negotiations to secure more favorable terms. Notably absent from the document is any mention of the suffering or casualties of Palestinian civilians. The document also outlines a psychological warfare strategy, calling for Hamas to maintain pressure on the families of hostages to increase public pressure on Israel’s government. In recent weeks, the terror group has released videos of hostages pleading for their freedom, and even of individuals who were executed, with their bodies recently recovered from Gaza. One of Hamas’s central goals in the proposed ceasefire deal is to secure the release of 100 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences for crimes including murder. Another key objective is the deployment of Arab forces along the Israel-Gaza border as part of a permanent ceasefire. This would allow Hamas to reorganize and rebuild its military under the protection of these forces. Israel has reportedly also considered the idea of an Arab coalition managing Gaza in the future but aims to prevent Hamas from rebuilding its military capabilities under such an arrangement. The document notably omits mention of the Philadelphi Corridor, a crucial area along the Gaza-Egypt border that has become a point of contention in ongoing negotiations. Israel only took control of the corridor in May, which may explain its absence from the earlier Hamas strategy document. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Chief Rabbi of Tehran HaRav Yehudah Gerami traveled to Shiraz last week to recite Selichos with the children of the kehilla. Following the recital of Selichos, HaRav Gerami blew the shofar for the children. [It should be noted that the event required much dedication from Rav Gerami as Shiraz is quite far from Tehran (over 9 hours by car). The majority of the Jews in Iran live in Tehran, the capital and largest city in the Tehran Province. About 2,000 Jews live in the southwestern city of Shiraz, the fourth-most populous city in Iran and the capital of Fars Province. Apart from Shiraz, there are about 1,200 Jews in Isfahan, a kehilla in Kermanshah, and smaller kehillos in Yazd and other cities. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A quick-moving blaze in Southern California exploded in size this weekend, consuming more than 17,000 acres as of early Sunday and forcing evacuations amid a searing heat wave in the region.

The Line Fire in San Bernardino County, which ignited late last week, quadrupled in size as the weekend began, scorching thousands of acres on Saturday alone. The flames raced up steep terrain, chewing through thick vegetation as they approached Running Springs, a mountain community of about 5,000 people that lies between the populated resort areas of Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake. The community has been ordered to evacuate, while Lake Arrowhead and areas to its west are under an evacuation warning.

Evacuation orders are also in effect on the south side of the fire, where structures could be affected in the city of Highland, which lies at the base of the mountains in San Bernardino County.

Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in the county to secure federal assistance to respond to the fire, which in all threatens more than 35,000 homes, as well as critical infrastructure.

The fire has “room to grow now in essentially three directions and there are population centers and pretty dense, dry vegetation in between those population centers,” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a Saturday briefing.

The fire initially sparked Thursday and had burned about 3,800 acres by Saturday morning, before ballooning thousands of acres through the afternoon. The blaze was so intense that it also formed a towering pyrocumulonimbus cloud – a fire-generated thunderstorm – that was sending out its own lightning, erratic winds and brief rain.

The fire is spreading amid a scorching heat wave in Southern California that has rivaled one seen in September 2020, with temperatures approaching or tying all-time records, exceeding 105 and even 110 degrees in many locations.

Vegetation in the area is “critically dry,” according to the San Bernardino National Forest.

“The San Bernardino front country … has everything you need for a fire to get big,” retired Cal Fire assistant chief Tim Chavez said in an interview posted online by the Lookout, a wildfire reporting website.

Along with this week’s heat, Chavez said this includes heavy fuels that in most places haven’t burned since the 1990s – and “steep, steep terrain leading up to the mountain communities.”

“Fuels that are stressed like that – they tend to surprise you,” he said.

Stormy skies cloud parts of the region, as monsoon thunderstorms in the area on Saturday also helped to intensify the fire. Officials are expecting Sunday to be another day of fire growth and erratic fire behavior.

“Unfortunately, the weather conditions over the next few days are not going to be favorable,” Swain said in the Saturday briefing. “It’s going to be very hot and relatively unstable over the next few days with some increasing winds next week.”

Cooler weather is expected to move in by midweek, but that transition could come with strong winds.

Meanwhile, the wind-driven Davis Fire south of Reno, Nev., has burned at least 1,500 acres and destroyed at least six structures, forcing quick evacuations.

Strong, dry winds of 30 to 40 mph are expected Sunday as a weather disturbance passes through the region. The conditions are a major fire weather risk for the Sierra Front, according to the National Weather Service at Reno, and a red flag warning is in effect for western Nevada into eastern California from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. today, given the potential for fast-spreading blazes.

The Western fire season has roared back to life this past week as hot, dry conditions have returned. There are 70 large fires burning out West, including 21 in Oregon, 19 in Idaho and 13 in Montana. A mix of wind and dry thunderstorms forecast for the coming days could exacerbate the situation and further strain firefighting resources.

(c) Washington Post

Three sisters from Ohio who inherited a dime kept in a bank vault for more than 40 years knew it had some value. But they had no idea just how much until just a few years ago. The extraordinarily rare coin, struck by the U.S. Mint in San Francisco in 1975, could bring more than $500,000, said Ian Russell, president of GreatCollections, which specializes in currency and is handling an online auction that will end in October. What makes the dime depicting President Franklin D. Roosevelt so valuable is a missing “S” mint mark for San Francisco, one of just two without the mark known to exist. The other one sold at a 2019 auction for $456,000 and then again months later to a private collector. While serious coin collectors have long known about the existence of these two rare dimes, their whereabouts had remained a mystery since the late 1970s. “They were hidden for decades.” Russell said. “Most major collectors and dealers have never seen one.” The mint in San Francisco made more than 2.8 million special uncirculated “proof” sets in 1975 that featured six coins and were sold for $7. Collectors a few years later discovered that two dimes from the set were missing the mint mark. The sisters from Ohio who inherited one of those two dimes after the recent death of brother want to remain anonymous given their sudden windfall, Russell said. They shared with Russell that their brother and mother in 1978 bought the first error coin discovered for $18,200, which would amount to roughly $90,000 today. Their parents, who operated a dairy farm, saw the coin as a financial safety net. One of the sisters said her brother often talked about the rare coin. But she never saw it first-hand until last year. Russell, whose company is based in Irvine, California, said their brother reached out to him about seven years ago and eventually told him about the coin. He too kept the secret. When Russell told one of the sisters just a few years ago about the coin’s potential value, he said she remarked “is that really possible?” Now the coin, known as the “1975 ‘no S’ proof dime,” will be displayed at a coin show beginning Wednesday in Tampa, Florida, and before the auction closes in late October, Russell said. While there is a chance more examples of the rare dime are out there, they would only be found among the 1975 “proof” sets and not in anyone’s pocket change, Russell said. Still, he expects this latest discovery to set off a lot of searching. (AP)

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been named the winner of Algeria’s presidential election, granting him another term leading the gas-rich North African nation five years after pro-democracy protests led to the ouster of his predecessor. In a result that surprised few observers internationally or in Algeria, the country’s independent election authority on Sunday announced that Tebboune had won 94% of the vote, far outpacing his challengers Islamist Abdelali Hassani Cherif, who won 3% and socialist Youcef Aouchiche, who won 2.1%. Election officials reported less than six million of the country’s 24 million voters had turned out to vote on Saturday, perpetuating the low voter turnout rates that marred Tebboune’s first term and raised questions about his popular support. Algeria is Africa’s largest country by area and, with almost 45 million people, it’s the continent’s second most populous after South Africa to hold presidential elections in 2024 — a year in which more than 50 elections are being held worldwide, encompassing more than half the world’s population. Throughout the campaign, activists and international organizations, including Amnesty International, railed against the campaign season’s repressive atmosphere and the harassment and prosecutions of those involved in opposition parties, media organizations and civil society groups. Some denounced this election as a rubber stamp exercise that can only entrench the status quo. But Tebboune and his two challengers each urged political participation and specifically made overtures to the Algerian youth, who make up a majority of the population and disproportionately suffer from poverty and unemployment. (AP)

Current and former senior U.S. intelligence officials are afraid a second Donald Trump term will see the former president retaliate against America’s spy agencies by carrying out a “deep state” purge and ultimately see him use the powerful agencies for his own political purposes, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

“Senior people are really worried,” retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, a former CIA director under Republican President George W. Bush, told the newspaper, adding a prediction that a second Trump administration would try to slash civil service protections and fire perceived enemies at a time when the country is mired in complex geopolitical jousting with China, Russia, and others.

“President Trump is committed to returning the intelligence community to its proper constitutional and statutory limits,” Brian Hughes, a Trump campaign official, told the WSJ, insisting his candidate is “committed to break the hold that entrenched interests have over decision-making and exercising the will of the American people.” Read more at The Wall Street Journal.

{Matzav.com}

President Joe Biden, at 81 years old, holds the distinction of being the oldest person ever elected to the presidency, as well as the oldest to serve in office. Now, his His frequent vacations have drawn attention, with the New York Post calculating that the time he’s spent away from work equates to nearly 48 years of vacation time for an average worker.

In fact, according to the Post, “President Biden spends almost as much time on R&R as he does running the country.”

To date, Biden has taken 532 vacation days out of the 1,326 days he’s been in office as of the end of August, which accounts for 40.3% of his time in the White House, according to figures from the Republican National Committee.

For context, the Post reported that a typical American worker with 11 vacation days per year would need approximately 48 years to accumulate as much time off as Biden has taken during his presidency.

Mark Paoletta, former general counsel at the White House Office of Management and Budget, shared his perspective with the Post, saying, “The image of Biden fast asleep and lying flat on his back in his chair at the beach while America and the world is on fire will define the Biden presidency.” Paoletta added, “Inflation has been out of control; prices still way too high; our border overrun with millions of illegal aliens committing violent crimes on our citizens; the world in a perilous state; and all Biden wants to do is go on vacation and check out — for more than 530 days.”

In recent months, Biden has taken more personal time, particularly after announcing he would not run for reelection. The Post suggested this might be due to his frustration with fellow Democrats who pressured him into stepping aside.

Despite this, his time off remains in line with his previous years in office, with the Post noting that Biden’s third year as president continued the trend of making him “America’s most idle commander in chief.”

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., voiced her dissatisfaction with Biden’s performance, telling the Post, “We probably would have been better off if he did even less and went on vacation more.” She added, “Sadly, he repealed President Trump’s border policies, lifted sanctions on Iran that enriched them, and implemented anti-energy policies that drove up the cost gas, food and utility bills. If he just left things alone, things would be better.”

Comparatively, former President Donald Trump spent 26% of his presidency on personal travel, totaling 381 days out of 1,461, according to the Post. By contrast, former President Barack Obama, who was younger than both Biden and Trump, took just 11% of his time in office as vacation days.

The White House has pushed back on the criticism surrounding Biden’s time off, arguing that the president continues to work even while on personal trips. White House spokesperson Andrew Bates responded to the Post, saying, “It’s not a surprise that the same geniuses who attack President Biden for petting hero dogs and liking ice cream can’t count, but he has taken fewer vacation days than the modern average for presidents and works hard every day, wherever he is.”

Jordanians distributed candies to passersby on streets throughout the kingdom on Sunday in celebration of the murders of three Israelis in a shooting at the Allenby Bridge Crossing between Jordan and Israel on Sunday morning. One photo showed a note alongside the candies on the tray stating: “Sweets for the “heroic operation.” The terrorist who carried out the attack was a Jordanian truck driver identified as Maher Dhiab Hussein al-Jazi, 39. He was eliminated immediately after the attack by Israeli security forces. Later on Sunday, videos from Amman showed crowds in the streets cheering, waving Palestinian flags and launching fireworks in celebration of the murders. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed early Sunday they shot down another American-made MQ-9 drone flying over the country, marking potentially the latest downing of the multimillion-dollar surveillance aircraft. The U.S. responded with airstrikes over Houthi-controlled territory, the rebels said. The U.S. military told The Associated Press it was aware of the claim but has “received no reports” of American military drones being downed over Yemen. The rebels offered no pictures or video to support the claim as they have in the past, though such material can appear in propaganda footage days later. However, the Houthis have repeatedly downed General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones in the years since they seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014. Those attacks have exponentially increased since the start of the Israel-Hamas war and the Houthis launched their campaign targeting shipping in the Red Sea corridor. Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree made the claim in a prerecorded video message. He said the Houthis shot down the drone over Yemen’s Marib province, a long-contested area home to key oil and gas fields that’s been held by allies of a Saudi-led coalition battling the rebels since 2015. Saree offered no details on how the rebels down the aircraft. 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. The Houthis “continue to perform their jihadist duties in victory for the oppressed Palestinian people and in defense of dear Yemen,” Saree said. 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. After the claim, the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel reported multiple U.S.-led airstrikes near the city of Ibb. The U.S. military did not immediately acknowledge the strikes, but the Americans have been striking Houthi targets intensely since January. 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 the barrage that struck the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion in the Red Sea. Salvagers last week abandoned an initial effort to tow away the burning oil tanker, leaving the Sounion stranded and its 1 million barrels of oil at risk of spilling. (AP)

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A woman was assaulted in the southwestern German city of Heidelberg last week for wearing a “Bring them home now” T-shirt in support of the Israelis held captive in Gaza.

The attack came the same week that a gunman opened fire near the Israeli consulate in Munich on the anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre and was killed by police.

The couple was assaulted on Monday evening by a 29-year-old man as they were walking outside in the university town, according to images captured on CCTV.

The attacker grabbed the woman by the T-shirt, demanding she take it off, lightly injuring her, local media reported. When her husband tried to help his wife, the attacker punched him several times in the face, reportedly knocking out a tooth before fleeing the scene.

The attacker later posted about the incident on Instagram.

The Muslim suspect, who was arrested on Thursday evening in a nearby city where he lives, is a German national whose parents are from Lebanon.

He remains under arrest this weekend after failing to post a €10,000 bail.

The suspect told police that he was “bothered” by the woman’s T-shirt.

The German embassy in Tel Aviv did not immediately return calls for comment over the weekend.

An Israeli who lives in Germany and runs a restaurant in a nearby city told JNS on Sunday that she had previously gotten a restraining order from police against the suspect after he sold drugs to clientele and refused to pay for services.

“After that he got more aggressive, threatened me and called me a ‘dirty Jew,’” Iris Haas said.

(JNS)

Ixelles, one of the 19 municipalities of Belgium’s Brussels-Capital Region, has suspended its twinning with the Israeli town of Megiddo.

The suspension, which was decided upon in July, has been confirmed by Ixelles Mayor Christos Doulkeridis of the Green Party. In the eyes of municipal authorities, any action in favor of peace involving an Israeli municipality is impossible for the time being, he told Belgian news agency Belga.

On June 20, around 100 pro-Palestinian activists demonstrated in the municipality to call for an end to the twinning arrangement, a demand made by a coalition of leftist organizations.

The municipality stated in its decision that “it is unable to carry out any credible initiative in the direction of dialogue and peace,” and considered that simply maintaining the twinning arrangement “could be interpreted as approval of the policy currently pursued by the State of Israel.”

The municipality cited “the scale and duration of the Israeli government’s response in the Gaza Strip” following Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, “the many civilian victims,” the “pronouncements of the International Court of Justice” and “the relentless pursuit of the settlement policy.”

The Belgian-Palestinian Association welcomed what it called “the strong gesture of responsibility on the part of the local authorities.” It hailed the decision as a “success” for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Megiddo lies some 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of Yerushalayim and 31 kilometers (19.3 miles) southwest of Chaifa. It overlooks the Yezreel Valley to the north and is an important crossroads on the main road linking central Israel with the Lower Galil and the northern region of the country.

(JNS)