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Polish authorities have arrested a Ukrainian man suspected of involvement in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosions that severed key Russian-German gas links, detaining him on a German-issued European warrant. Identified only as Volodymyr Z., the man was apprehended in Pruszkow and transferred to prosecutors in Warsaw, while another Ukrainian was arrested in Italy last month over the same incident. German investigators allege he was a diving instructor who helped place explosives on the pipelines from a yacht, though his lawyer denies certainty about his role and vowed to fight extradition. The blasts, which caused major disruption to Europe’s energy supply amid the war in Ukraine, remain one of the most controversial sabotage cases of the conflict.

The U.S. government has begun phasing out paper checks for most federal programs, including Social Security, SSI, and tax refunds, under an executive order signed by President Trump in March. Officials say the move to direct deposit and prepaid cards will reduce fraud, speed up processing, and cut costs

BREAKING: Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst near Lakewood has been placed on lockdown amid reports of an active shooter. Developing.

Dear Matzav Inbox,

How can we approach Yom Kippur with a clear conscience when there is such a terrible tragedy unfolding in our community?

At this very moment, there are 10,000 girls hoping to get married — yet BMG has only about 2,000 boys available. Just this summer alone, another 3,000 young women returned from Eretz Yisroel. This imbalance is devastating. We do not need more speeches, discussions, or well-meaning comments. We need action. Real, decisive action.

Can you not feel the pain? I always believed that Yidden care about each other. Do we truly care, or are we satisfied with endless commentary while thousands of our daughters continue to wait?

The newest initiative being promoted is the only practical path forward. It has the support of 99% of rabbonim and shadchanim. Why not give it a chance? What do we have to lose? It is our best — and perhaps only — option.

I write not only for myself but for my daughters, and for thousands of others. To underscore how desperate the situation has become: even a prominent shadchan in the tri-state area, who has three daughters in shidduchim, cannot succeed. One of their daughters is already 26 years old and still waiting. If a famous shadchan cannot manage to arrange suitable matches for their own family, what hope is there for everyone else?

This is a communal crisis. Please, do not dismiss our suffering with casual comments. Such remarks are deeply hurtful to parents and young women who are already carrying so much pain. Instead, join us. Be part of the solution. Help us get our daughters married.

In Chassidishe communities there are enough boys. In Eretz Yisroel, the Litvishe world does not face the same shortage. Only in America do we find ourselves in this impossible situation. Think carefully — use your head — and recognize why this is happening. Then, help us fix it.

And to those who present themselves as “ober chochomim” who claim they don’t agree with this initiative: I challenge you. Either put forth a different, workable plan that can gain the support of rabbonim across the board, or remain silent. Your opinions and criticisms, without solutions, only make things worse. And honestly, I ask: do you even have a daughter waiting for a shidduch? Or are you just another hocker offering empty words?

We cannot continue this way.

A Gut Yor to all who genuinely feel the pain of another Jew — and who understand that silence is sometimes the greatest act of kindness.

Y. C. G.

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{Matzav.com}

A Ukrainian man suspected of being involved in causing undersea explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany in 2022 was arrested in Poland, a spokesperson for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw said Tuesday. Volodymyr Z. was detained in Pruszkow, central Poland, according to Polish radio station RMF FM, which first reported his capture. He has been transferred to prosecutors in Warsaw. The man, whose full name wasn’t released due to privacy rules, was detained on a European arrest warrant issued by German authorities, said Piotr Antoni Skiba, a spokesperson for the Warsaw prosecutor’s office. A spokesperson for Germany’s federal prosecutor did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday. Another Ukrainian man was arrested in Italy last month in connection with the explosions on the undersea pipelines that were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. “Taking into consideration the full-scale war in Ukraine and the fact that Nord Stream is owned by the Russian company Gazprom, which finances these activities, the defense currently does not see any possibility of pressing charges against anyone who participated in these events,” Tymoteusz Paprocki, Volodymyr Z.’s lawyer, told RMF FM. The lawyer said it was not certain whether his client was involved in the sabotage act and he was awaiting official information about the intentions of the German justice system in pressing charges. The defense would fight extradition, the lawyer said. Undersea explosions on Sept. 26, 2022, damaged pipelines that were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The damage added to tensions over the war in Ukraine as European countries moved to wean themselves off Russian energy sources, following the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to RMF FM, German authorities say the man is a diving instructor and, in September 2022, he sailed to the Baltic Sea on a yacht, from which he dove underwater and placed the explosive on the underwater pipeline. (AP)

Police in Bnei Brak have detained and questioned six minors, aged 11 to 14, suspected of desecrating several kevorim in the city’s cemetery, among them the kever of the late Kisei Rachamim rosh yeshiva, Rav Meir Mazuz zt”l.

The investigation began Motzoei Shabbos after police received a complaint about damage to a number of gravestones in the Bnei Brak cemetery. According to a statement released Monday evening, officers from the Bnei Brak–Ramat Gan station, together with municipal patrol units, quickly identified the suspects and brought them in for questioning.

All six minors were summoned to the station earlier in the day, where they gave testimony and were interrogated under caution before being released. Police said the boys are suspected of involvement in both the vandalism and other disturbances in the cemetery.

“From the inquiry conducted, the background to the damage caused was a fight and an act of mischief among the minors,” police officials said.

The damage included Rav Mazuz’s grave at the Ponovezh cemetery in Bnei Brak. The defacement was first discovered on Motzoei Shabbos by talmidim of Yeshivas Kisei Rachamim who went to visit the site.

The gravestone bore clear signs of desecration, including cracks and deep scratches apparently caused with a sharp object. Though the stone itself was not completely broken, the visible damage stirred outrage in the community.

{Matzav.com Israel}

Jewish leaders from across New York City have come together to endorse Andrew Cuomo for mayor. The endorsement was announced in a signed letter representing communities spanning Crown Heights, Queens, Far Rockaway, the Bronx, Riverdale, Staten Island, Manhattan, and the Sephardic community in Brooklyn. The leaders expressed grave concern over the direction they believe mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani would take the city, citing his past statements about law enforcement, his support for calls to “globalize the intifada,” and his socialist policies that they warn would endanger Jewish communities and create chaos for all New Yorkers. They also pointed to Mamdani’s lack of administrative experience and limited understanding of how to manage a city of New York’s scale. “For these reasons, we encourage our communities across New York City to unite with us in endorsing Andrew Cuomo for Mayor,” the letter states. While acknowledging past differences with Cuomo during his time as governor, the signatories stressed that he is the most experienced and capable leader at this critical moment, able to work with federal, state, and local officials to ensure safety and stability. The letter also thanked outgoing Mayor Eric Adams for his years of friendship to the Jewish community and for prioritizing the wellbeing of the city in his decision-making. The endorsement includes prominent figures such as Rabbi Michael S. Miller, NYS Senator Sam Sutton of the Sephardic community, Richard Altabe of the Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance, Rabbi Lazer Avtzon of the Association of Crown Heights Shuls, Sorolle Idels and Nechemia Hoch of the Queens Jewish Alliance, Harry Feder of Bronx-Riverdale, and Leon Goldenberg, among many others. The leaders concluded with a call for all New Yorkers to rally behind Cuomo in the upcoming election, stressing that proven leadership—not ideological experimentation—is what the city needs during these challenging times. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared an end to “woke” culture in the military and targeted other policies of past administrations Tuesday before hundreds of top U.S. military officials who were abruptly summoned to Virginia from around the world. Hegseth announced new directives for troops that include “gender-neutral” or “male-level” standards for physical fitness, while Trump bragged about U.S. nuclear capabilities and criticized the military leaders’ previous commander in chief, President Joe Biden. “We must be so strong that no nation will dare challenge us, so powerful that no enemy will dare threaten us,” Trump said. “And so capable that no adversary can even think about beating us.” Hegseth had called military leaders to convene at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, near Washington, without publicly revealing the reason until this morning. Hegseth’s address largely focused on his own long-used talking points that painted a picture of a military that has been hamstrung by “woke” policies, and he said military leaders should “do the honorable thing and resign” if they don’t like his new approach. Meetings between top military brass and civilian leaders are nothing new, but the gathering had fueled intense speculation about the summit’s purpose given the haste with which it was called and the mystery surrounding it. Admirals and generals from conflict zones in the Middle East and elsewhere were summoned for a lecture on race and gender in the military, underscoring the extent to which the country’s culture wars have emerged as a front-and-center agenda item for Hegseth’s Pentagon, even at a time of broad national security concerns across the globe. During his nearly hour-long speech, Hegseth said the U.S. military has promoted too many leaders for the wrong reasons based on race, gender quotas and “historic firsts.” “The era of politically correct, overly sensitive don’t-hurt-anyone’s-feelings leadership ends right now at every level,” Hegseth said. He said he is loosening disciplinary rules and weakening hazing protections, putting a heavy focus on removing many of the guardrails the military had put in place after numerous scandals and investigations Hegseth said he was ordering a review of “the department’s definitions of so-called toxic leadership, bullying and hazing to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second guessing.” He called for “changes to the retention of adverse information on personnel records that will allow leaders with forgivable, earnest, or minor infractions to not be encumbered by those infractions in perpetuity.” “People make honest mistakes, and our mistakes should not define an entire career,” Hegseth said. “Otherwise, we only try not to make mistakes.” Bullying and toxic leadership has been the suspected and confirmed cause behind numerous military suicides over the past several years, including the very dramatic suicide of Brandon Caserta, a young sailor who was bullied into killing himself in 2018. A Navy investigation found that Caserta’s supervisor’s “noted belligerence, vulgarity and brash leadership was likely a significant contributing factor in (the sailor)’s decision to end his own life.” Hegseth used the platform to slam physical fitness and grooming standards, environmental policies and transgender troops while talking up his and Trump’s focus on “the warrior ethos” and “peace through strength.” Hegseth said the department has been told from previous administrations that “our diversity is our strength,” which he called an “insane fallacy.” […]

President Donald Trump took to his social media page on Monday to once again comment on the New York City mayoral contest, warning that Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani would not receive the federal resources he says are necessary to carry out his platform.

“He is going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great City. Remember, he needs the money from me, as President, in order to fulfill all of his FAKE Communist promises. He won’t be getting any of it, so what’s the point of voting for him?” Trump posted.

Several of Mamdani’s proposals would depend on Albany’s cooperation and state dollars, while other initiatives would rely on federal government allocations.

Mamdani has described himself as a democratic socialist but has rejected any suggestion that he is a communist.

Trump made no mention of current Mayor Eric Adams, who just one day earlier halted his campaign for another term.

Sources previously told ABC News that Trump’s team had been in touch with Adams, encouraging him to exit the race and even offering him positions within a second Trump administration.

Trump had publicly argued that the number of contenders should be narrowed in order to consolidate opposition to Mamdani.

Responding at a Monday press conference, Mamdani dismissed Trump’s comments and suggested the president was “going through the stages of grief” as Mamdani’s chances of winning grew stronger.

Reporters pressed Mamdani on whether he feared New York City would face financial harm if the federal government withheld money under Trump’s administration.

“I think that Donald Trump is going through the stages of grief. He began with denial, where he said that there was no way we could win this race and that he would use every tool at his disposal to ensure that that was the case,” Mamdani said.

Bringing up reports of conversations between Trump and Andrew Cuomo — which both men have denied — Mamdani added, “And we saw that phone calls that he had with Andrew Cuomo and briefings that he had with pollsters, and now we’ve reached the point where he’s coming to terms with the fact that we’re going to win this race, and he’s coming to terms with it, because New Yorkers are tired of a politics here in this city that has more to do with Washington than it has to do with the people of this same city.”

Mamdani went on to argue, “We know that Andrew Cuomo would be the greatest thing that could happen for Donald Trump, because he isn’t simply clearing the way or looking to, for Andrew Cuomo, out of a sincere belief in what Cuomo will present for the people of this city. He’s doing so because he knows that Andrew Cuomo will clear the way for Donald Trump’s agenda. And New Yorkers are sick and tired of that agenda.”

Cuomo has previously suggested that Mamdani is the weakest possible choice to stand up to Trump and pledged to resist Trump’s administration in areas where it may collide with the city’s interests.

Later in the press conference, Mamdani outlined potential areas where New York could cut spending, but he avoided stating direct concerns about losing federal support.

{Matzav.com}

A partisan standoff over health care and spending is threatening to trigger the first U.S. government shutdown in almost seven years, with Democrats and Republicans in Congress unable to find agreement even as thousands of federal workers stand to be furloughed or laid off. The government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday if the Senate does not pass a House measure that would extend federal funding for seven weeks while lawmakers finish their work on annual spending bills. Senate Democrats say they won’t vote for it unless Republicans include an extension of expiring health care benefits, among other demands. President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans are so far refusing to negotiate, arguing that it’s a stripped-down, “clean” bill that should be noncontroversial. It’s unclear if either side will blink before the deadline. “It’s now in the president’s hands,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Monday after a meeting with Trump at the White House that yielded little apparent progress. “He can avoid the shutdown if he gets the Republican leaders to go along with what we want.” Trump posted a fake, mocking video of Democrats after the meeting and blamed Democrats. “They lost the election in a landslide, and they don’t change,” Trump said Tuesday morning. While partisan stalemates over government spending are a frequent occurrence in Washington, the current impasse comes as Democrats see a rare opportunity to use their leverage to achieve policy goals and as their base voters are spoiling for a fight with Trump. Republicans who hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate would likely need at least eight votes from Democrats to end a filibuster and pass the bill with 60 votes, since Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is expected to vote against it. The last shutdown was in Trump’s first term, from December 2018 to January 2019, when he demanded that Congress give him money for his U.S.-Mexico border wall. Trump retreated after 35 days — the longest shutdown ever — amid intensifying airport delays and missed paydays for federal workers. No agreement at the White House The bipartisan meeting at the White House on Monday was Trump’s first meeting with all four leaders in Congress since retaking the White House for his second term. But Trump made it clear he had little interest in negotiations. “Their ideas are not very good ones,” Trump said of Democrats before the meeting. The White House did not allow cameras in for any part of the closed door meeting. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told Democrats in a caucus meeting that Trump did more listening than talking, according to a lawmaker who attended the private caucus meeting and insisted on anonymity to discuss it. Schumer appeared to be holding out hope that Trump could be open to a deal. He told reporters afterward that the group had “had candid, frank discussions” about health care. He said Trump “was not aware” of the potential for health insurance costs to skyrocket once expanded Affordable Care Act tax credits expire Dec. 31. But Trump did not appear to be ready for serious talks. Hours later, Trump posted a fake video of Schumer and Jeffries taken from footage of their real press conference outside of the White House after the meeting. In the altered video, a voiceover that sounds like Schumer’s voice makes fun of Democrats and […]

President Trump’s message to top military leaders: “We must be so strong that no nation will dare challenge us, so powerful that no enemy will dare threaten us, and so capable that no adversary can even think about beating us.”

Israel is preparing for a range of potential developments, including the chance that it might have to carry out another strike on Iran, a senior Israel Defense Forces official told Maariv on Monday.

Turning to Gaza, the official said the army is working to create the most favorable conditions possible for a ceasefire and a negotiated hostage return. “We are monitoring what is happening across the Middle East and in Iran and are preparing for a variety of scenarios and options; one of them is that we may need to act again against Iran.”

“Iran took a heavy blow from the IDF,” the official added. “It knows very well the scope of the damage it suffered. It understands the meaning of the damage and Israel’s capabilities.”

Speaking about efforts tied to the high-profile Trump–Netanyahu discussions in Washington aimed at securing a hostage agreement, the official stated the military is doing all it can to facilitate conditions that would stop the fighting and enable the return of hostages under security terms Israel requires. “We are doing everything to enable a situation in which the best conditions will be achieved for stopping the fighting and returning the 48 hostages and to set security arrangements that meet Israel’s demands.”

“We are busy and acting to protect Israel’s security on multiple fronts.”

Earlier on state television, former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Mohsen Rezaei issued a series of threats directed at both Israel and the United States.

Rezaei cautioned that Tehran would consider entering a conflict with the United States should Israel strike it again, and insisted Iran would refuse talks with Western powers that give Israel time to regroup or bolster its position.

Rezaei adopted a grim posture in his comments, declaring that “if the war lasts two months, today there would be nothing left of Israel.”

“The Israelis want to try their military luck against Iran again. If that happens, we will use all our forces, we will change our red lines, and things will happen that are not right for me to say now,” Razei added.

{Matzav.com Israel}

REPORTER: “If there is a shutdown, how many federal workers do you plan to lay off?” TRUMP: “Well, we may do a lot, and that’s only because of the Democrats… They want to be able to take care of people that have come into our country illegally — and no system can handle that.”

POTUS: “All of the Arab countries are signed up, the Muslim countries all signed up, Israel’s all signed up. We’re just waiting for Hamas, and Hamas is either going to be doing it or not — and if it’s not, it’s going to be a very sad end.”

Speaker Mike Johnson: Democrats are demanding we restore taxpayer-funded benefits for illegals, restore $500M for woke “public” media, and gut the $50B we allocated for rural hospitals.

Pam Bondi on Memphis: “Sec. Hegseth and I are going in there together this week… We’re meeting with all of our troops, meeting all of our federal agents, all of the state police on the ground… the mayor, all the locals — so we can work hand in hand to Make Memphis Safe Again.”

Sec. of War Pete Hegseth announced that the US military will return to male-only standards: “Each service will ensure that every requirement for every combat MOS, for every combat arms position, returns to the highest male standard only.”

Trump said Hamas has three to four days to respond to the proposal, warning that if they do not, Israel will “Do what they need to do.”

US Sec. of War Pete Hegseth: “From this moment forward, the only mission of the newly restored Department of War is this. War fighting, preparing for war and preparing to win, unrelenting and uncompromising in that pursuit.”

Hamas and other Palestinian factions are leaning toward accepting President Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan and are expected to present their response to Egyptian and Qatari mediators on Wednesday, CBS News reports.