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Hamas official Basem Naim says the group is ready to discuss “freezing or storing its weapons.”

Hit by deadly floods, Indonesians in the region around Aceh Tamiang are grappling with worsening diseases and a lack of medical care as workers struggled to help dozens of residents at the lone hospital in the area

Just days after wiping away the federal bribery case against him, President Donald Trump publicly rebuked Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar for sticking with the Democratic Party and immediately filing for another term under its banner.

Cuellar and his wife were pardoned on Wednesday, clearing them of allegations that they took payments from Azerbaijan and a Mexican financial institution in exchange for political favors. That same day, the congressman signaled he would stay put as a Democrat and announced his re-election bid.

Trump, reacting on Sunday, claimed Cuellar had been “punished” by Democrats because he occasionally challenged the party’s stance on immigration—only to then complain that Cuellar had repaid his intervention with disloyalty.

His remarks underscored once again the expectation Trump places on individuals who benefit from his help. “I never spoke to the Congressman, his wife, or his daughters, but felt very good about fighting for a family that was tormented by very sick and deranged people – They were treated sooo BADLY!” he wrote on Truth Social. “Such a lack of LOYALTY, something that Texas Voters, and Henry’s daughters, will not like. Oh’ well, next time, no more Mr. Nice guy!”

Cuellar, long known as one of the House’s more moderate Democrats, represents a South Texas district that Republicans redrew in August to strengthen their chances there. Even with the new map, Cuellar remains a formidable incumbent with a viable path to victory in the 2026 midterms.

The GOP gained another advantage on Thursday when the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Texas’s revised congressional map to stand, a significant win for Republicans aiming to preserve their majority in the House.

{Matzav.com}

Every Jewish community has moments of chesed. But sometimes, a community takes those individual acts and turns them into something far bigger- an organized system that protects families even before they know they’ll need it.   That is the story of Achiezer.   Not long ago, there was no real framework for navigating a crisis. […]

President Donald Trump’s newly launched “Trump accounts” initiative is reshaping the conversation about how early Americans should begin building financial security. The program sets aside $1,000 for every child born from 2025 through 2028, placing the funds directly into investment accounts designed to grow with the stock market over nearly two decades.

The Treasury Department’s financial agent would open each account and invest the seed money in broad U.S. equity index funds, including options tied to the S&P 500. Families would later gain the ability to transfer the account to a brokerage of their choosing, though several operational details and specific investment options have yet to be finalized.

Supporters argue the initiative offers children access to the kinds of investment vehicles that typically benefit families who already participate in the markets. By focusing on market exposure and growth rather than traditional savings accounts, the plan aims to give all families—even those who do not regularly invest—an early stake in long-term wealth-building.

University at Buffalo finance professor Scott Laing emphasized that the strategy hinges on the power of compounding, telling KCRA that the real advantage over bank savings is the steady accumulation of earnings on top of prior gains. According to Laing, the S&P 500 has averaged more than 10% annual returns since 1957, meaning an initial $1,000 investment could balloon to roughly $5,600 by the time a child turns 18.

However, Laing noted that the final amount may be reduced once taxes and penalties enter the picture. KCRA reported that when the account automatically converts into an IRA at age 18, withdrawals taken before age 59½ may incur the standard 10% early-withdrawal penalty along with applicable taxes. As a result, the spendable value could land closer to $3,600 depending on individual circumstances.

The initiative is folded into Trump’s broader “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” with July 4, 2026, targeted as the official launch date. Funds inside the account would grow tax-deferred, and contributions from families could reach up to $5,000 per year, with anticipated employer participation capped at about $2,500 annually.

While critics contend the greatest benefits may accrue to families capable of adding more money, advocates say the broader goal is to democratize access to American economic growth. Even a small foothold in the markets, they argue, can become a foothold in the country’s future.

Adding significant momentum to the effort, billionaires Michael and Susan Dell announced a $6.25 billion commitment to support 25 million young children living in ZIP codes with median family incomes at or below $150,000. Their pledge injects major private-sector backing into a program aiming to bring millions of Americans into the investment economy from birth.

{Matzav.com}

At a high-profile gathering at the Doha Forum, Donald Trump Jr. raised the possibility that President Donald Trump could decide to step away from the U.S.-led push to resolve the Russia-Ukraine war. In remarks that challenged both the current diplomatic track and the political motivations of those involved, he cautioned that the United States should not feel compelled to bankroll an indefinite effort without clear prospects for an end to the fighting.

Sky News reported that when Trump Jr. was asked directly whether the president might back out of the peace initiative, he responded plainly, “I think he may.” He argued that his father’s decision-making style keeps foreign leaders on edge, saying his father is “unpredictable,” which, in his view, forces other negotiators “to negotiate more honestly.”

According to The Guardian, Trump Jr. offered a harsh assessment of Kyiv’s leadership, accusing Ukraine of prolonging the war and alleging that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally benefits from the conflict’s continuation. He claimed Zelenskyy has been elevated by liberal politicians into a “borderline deity,” raising doubts about whether the massive sums sent abroad are being monitored with sufficient transparency.

His comments came shortly after U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, met with two senior Ukrainian officials in Miami. That meeting followed recent U.S.-Russia negotiations in Moscow and was cast as part of the administration’s ongoing attempt to explore possible off-ramps for the war.

Trump Jr. did not limit his criticism to Kyiv. He reserved sharp words for European governments as well, faulting their sanctions regime and mocking the idea that waiting for Russia to financially collapse constitutes a plan. The Guardian reported that he argued Europe’s measures have failed to choke off Russian war funding and instead contributed to rising global oil prices, giving Moscow continued revenue.

Returning repeatedly to an “America First” theme, Trump Jr. warned against the United States becoming, as he put it, “the idiot with the checkbook.” He insisted that most Americans do not rank Ukraine among the nation’s core priorities, especially when issues such as drug trafficking and cartel activity pose what he called a “far greater clear and present danger” to U.S. communities.

He drew a contrast between the administration’s aggressive efforts against criminal networks and what he described as public fatigue over “endless wars,” arguing that the narcotics crisis endangers American families more immediately than a distant battlefield stalemate.

At one point, Trump Jr. referenced seeing numerous high-end cars with Ukrainian plates in Monaco, using the anecdote to claim that wealthy Ukrainians have largely avoided the hardships of war while ordinary citizens endure its sacrifices. He went even further by asserting that Ukraine is “far more corrupt than Russia,” remarks that are likely to ignite debate among supporters of sustained U.S. aid to Kyiv.

{Matzav.com}

NOTE FROM THE MEETING: Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Mike Lawler said they are arranging a private Washington, D.C. meeting for the Skvere Rebbe with President Trump. More details will be posted when available.

MetroCards will soon no longer be available to pay for rides on the New York City subway, and the OMNY system will fully take over.  

A storm of criticism has erupted around Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani after he chose Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari — a progressive activist who publicly expressed admiration for convicted cop-killer Assata Shakur — to serve on his youth and education transition team, according to The NY Post.

Shaakir-Ansari, who helps lead the Alliance for Quality Education, was tapped last week to advise the incoming administration on public-school matters. Her past comments resurfaced almost immediately, including an interview with Lingua Franca in which she was asked to choose any woman in history to spend an afternoon with.

Her answer drew immediate fire.

“Assata Shakur — I believe she has so much to offer. With all of the reflection you must have done after all of the years as a Black Panther, what advice do you have for black women to move the movement while also caring for each other?” she said.

Assata Shakur — born Joanne Deborah Chesimard — was convicted for the 1973 killing of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster after a gun battle on the New Jersey Turnpike. She had been traveling with Zayd Malik Shakur and Sundiata Acoli when state troopers stopped them for a broken taillight, prompting a shootout that left Foerster dead.

Before her involvement with the Black Liberation Army, she was aligned with the Black Panthers and immersed in radical political activity during the 1970s. In 1977 she was convicted of murder and assault, but in 1979 a team of armed BLA members broke her out of the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women, took hostages, and fled in a hijacked van.

Shakur ultimately escaped to Cuba in 1984, where the communist regime granted her asylum. Calling herself a “20th century escaped slave,” she remained a fugitive for decades and was placed on the FBI’s most wanted terrorist list in May 2013 — the first woman ever added.

For families of fallen police officers, Mamdani’s decision to elevate someone who venerates Shakur felt like a painful slap.

“Supporting a cop killer, you know, is not . . . a good thing,” said Grace Machate, whose husband, NYPD Officer Robert Machate, was murdered in 1989 while she was seven months pregnant.

Her husband, like Foerster, was gunned down during what began as a routine traffic stop involving “two suspicious males.”

“When someone kills an officer, whether he’s from New Jersey, New York or Alabama, I don’t care. It’s something that families are going to stick together on,” she said.

Retired NYPD lieutenant and US Marine Eric Dym reacted with disbelief at Mamdani’s choice.

“That’s unbelievable. I don’t think it’s a small oversight. I think it’s a conscious decision,” said Dym.

He added a blunt warning about what this signals to the rank and file: “When someone with that history is given a seat at the table it sends the message that your sacrifice is negotiable . . . this just strips away at the morale of the NYPD.”

John Macari, a retired NYPD lieutenant and co-host of the “New York’s Finest: Retired and Unfiltered Podcast,” argued that while Shaakir-Ansari can hold any views she wants, they shouldn’t shape city policy.

“Shaakir-Ansari has every right to her opinions, but she should have no business shaping education policy in a city where thousands of cops entrust their own kids to be educated and kept safe,” he said.

Shaakir-Ansari, a grandmother and longtime education advocate, has been involved in activism for roughly twenty years. In 2017, she appeared on City and State New York Magazine’s list of the 25 most influential Brooklyn leaders. She even launched a clothing line last year, raising $15,000 through GoFundMe.

During the mayoral campaign, Mamdani sparked additional backlash when he declined to denounce a glowing tribute to Shakur posted by the Democratic Socialists of America after her death.

“We vow to honor her legacy by recognizing our duty to fight for our freedom, to win, to love and protect one another because we have nothing to lose but our chains,” the DSA said on X.

Pressed by The Post to respond to the DSA statement, Mamdani sidestepped the issue.

“I am running to be the mayor of New York City,” he said. “I am running to represent the people of New York City. My focus is on the issues of the city, and I’m accountable to those same New Yorkers.”

Law-enforcement experts warn that appointments like this are a troubling signal for the coming administration. Retired NYPD sergeant and John Jay Professor Joe Giacolone said the fallout will be swift.

“You pick someone who praises a cop killer, you don’t need a slide rule to figure out what’s going on here — there’s gonna be two types of cops left, those who want to get out and can, and those who want to get out and can’t.”

{Matzav.com}

A senior diplomat from Riyadh declared that reforming the Israeli government — not the Palestinian Authority — is the key to achieving lasting peace in the Middle East. Speaking onstage at the Doha Forum, Manal Radwan, a minister in Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry, pushed back against what she described as an international fixation on Palestinian […]

WATCH: House Speaker Mike Johnson and Congressman Mike Lawler seen leaving the home of the Skvere Rebbe following a visit.

The New York Post reports Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the suspect in the shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C. worked at the same counterterrorism base as Mohammad Alokozay, the man accused of posting a video of himself on TikTok indicating he was making a bomb to target Fort Worth, Texas.

NY Seniors May Receive Up to 65% Property-Tax Exemption Gov. Kathy Hochul signed new legislation allowing local governments to offer seniors a property-tax exemption of up to 65% of a home’s assessed value. * This raises the previous maximum exemption from 50% to 65%. * Savings for eligible seniors could reach about $300 a year, […]

Sen. Tom Cotton used a Sunday interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to issue a full-throated endorsement of the Trump administration’s lethal actions against cartel-linked vessels, arguing that the mission is both legally justified and essential for protecting American lives. Cotton, who was briefed on the strikes in his capacity as Senate Intelligence Committee chair, described the objective in blunt terms: stop the narcotics flow by eliminating the boats pushing them toward U.S. interests.

According to Cotton, the nature of the threat leaves little ambiguity. “Destroy these drug boats,” he said, emphasizing that the same smuggling networks are responsible for overdose deaths in his own state and across the nation. He told host Kristen Welker, “The order, like the entire operation, Kristen, is to destroy these drug boats, which are running drugs into our country from foreign drug cartels and traffickers that are killing hundreds of Arkansans every year and hundreds of thousands of Americans.”

NBC News previously revealed that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth authorized a strike that resulted in all 11 individuals aboard a targeted craft being killed after U.S. intelligence labeled them “narco-terrorists.” Cotton said he never heard anyone refer to a formal “target list,” but he did say officials conveyed “high confidence based on multiple sources of intelligence that everyone on that boat was part of a foreign terrorist organization” and therefore “valid targets.”

He pushed back sharply against claims circulating in earlier press accounts that the U.S. military had fired upon “helpless survivors.” Cotton flatly rejected that depiction, insisting the men weren’t drifting unprotected or clinging to debris. Instead, he said they remained on an overturned vessel and were “not incapacitated in any way.”

Cotton defended the decision to conduct a secondary strike as both appropriate and lawful. He argued that it was necessary “to make sure that its cargo was destroyed,” and maintained, “It is in no way a violation of the law of war.”

Some Democrats who viewed classified footage disagreed, suggesting the individuals appeared stranded or possibly attempting to surrender. Cotton dismissed that reading entirely, underscoring that the vessel, its drugs, and the crew remained legitimate military objectives in an ongoing counter-cartel operation.

Even when Welker noted that the shipment might have first been destined for Suriname before being moved elsewhere, Cotton insisted that such nuances don’t change the equation. He argued that smuggling networks routinely shift loads between different boats, and any cartel-manned craft carrying narcotics poses a direct danger. “Any boat loaded with drugs that is crewed by associates and members of foreign terrorist organizations that are trying to kill American kids I think is a valid target,” he said. “I’m not just comfortable with it, I want to continue it.”

Cotton added that he supports declassifying and releasing the strike footage, describing it as standard operational video and “not gruesome,” though he acknowledged the Pentagon may need to safeguard sensitive intelligence practices before doing so.

President Trump unleashed on Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) after the congressman, freshly pardoned on federal bribery and corruption charges, announced he would seek reelection as a Democrat. Cuellar, 70, had faced sweeping allegations — including bribery, money laundering, and acting as an unregistered foreign agent — stemming from what prosecutors said was $600,000 in payments […]

Efforts to revive the fragile communications line between Israel and Qatar have quietly resumed in New York, where Mossad chief David Barnea has sat down with a top Qatari representative at the urging of U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, according to Axios. Two sources told the outlet that this discussion marks the launch of a three-way framework intended to stabilize the damaged relationship after the strike in Qatar on September 9 disrupted months of delicate diplomacy.

The September operation, aimed at senior Hamas political figures, did not eliminate the leadership it targeted, but it did result in the deaths of several lower-ranking Hamas operatives as well as a Qatari guard. The fallout was immediate. Qatar, which had been the central mediator between Israel and Hamas throughout the Gaza conflict, abruptly halted its involvement and demanded accountability for what it viewed as a violation of its sovereignty.

Barnea’s meeting represents the most senior-level engagement since that episode. According to the report, the goal is to determine whether the two sides can rebuild the cooperation that existed before the strike and re-establish Qatar’s role in facilitating negotiations despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties between Israel and Doha.

In an effort to contain the crisis back in late September, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu personally conveyed an apology to Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, acknowledging that Qatari sovereignty had been breached.

The conversation in New York is expected to revolve around whether a path can be charted toward the next stage of the Gaza ceasefire process. Axios notes that the meeting is intended to probe how — and whether — Israel, Qatar, and the United States can resume coordinated mediation after weeks of strained silence.

{Matzav.com}

HAPPENING NOW: U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who was in Rockland County today for fundraisers supporting Congressman Mike Lawler, has just arrive, together with Congressman Mike Lawler, at the home of the Skvere Rebbe, in New Square for a visit.

TUNE IN NOW! WATCH HERE      

During an extensive visit to key hotspots inside Gaza on Sunday, Chief of the General Staff LTG Eyal Zamir surveyed front-line positions alongside top southern commanders, receiving a close-up briefing on current battlefield conditions and the next phase of operations. He moved through areas including Beit Hanoun and Jabaliya, where division leaders outlined the pace of recent missions and the broader strategic picture.

As he addressed the commanders, Zamir made clear that the army views the campaign as far from finished. “We are operating to thwart and remove threats in all arenas,” he began, underscoring that Israeli forces will counter aggression wherever it appears. He added firmly, “We will not tolerate threats against our troops, and we will respond to any attempt. We have freedom of operation – both here in the Southern Command and across all arenas.”

Zamir highlighted that the military intends to block any attempt by Hamas to rebuild or reorganize. “We will not allow Hamas to reestablish itself. We have operational control over extensive parts of the Gaza Strip and we will remain on those defense lines. The Yellow Line is a new border line – serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity.”

Turning to the matter of the hostages, he noted that Israel’s responsibility continues. “The overwhelming majority of our hostages have returned, but our mission will not be complete until the last fallen hostage, SFC Ran Gvili, is brought home.”

Zamir warned his officers against easing their posture in the coming period. “We must not be complacent. We must be prepared in all arenas and maintain readiness and alertness, while maintaining operational norms. The IDF is preparing for surprise attack scenarios – this is one of the cornerstones of the upcoming multi-year plan.”

He spoke at length about the vital role of the reserves and the need to bolster them for future challenges. “The security and existence of the State of Israel depend on the IDF, with reserve troops being a central component. You achieved unprecedented successes throughout the war, and your level of readiness and capability is extremely high.”

Looking ahead, Zamir outlined legislative steps meant to support the force. “We are advancing several laws intended to strengthen the IDF and its readiness, and in doing so also ease the burden on the reserve troops. We must reinforce and expand the reserve array – this is a central mission in the IDF’s force build up process.”

He also referenced the internal reviews completed regarding October 7, stressing their importance for institutional improvement. “In recent weeks, we concluded the inquiries into October 7th. The inquiries are a crucial component in learning the lessons needed to prevent another October 7th. We are leading the IDF toward learning, developing, and strengthening in order to prepare for future challenges. You are partners in advancing the IDF forward.”

{Matzav.com}

BREAKING: i24NEWS reports that top Netanyahu aide Yonatan Urich is set to be indicted in the classified-documents leak case. According to the investigation, Urich is accused of improperly handling and leaking sensitive military intelligence. The accusations include possession and unauthorized transfer of classified material that may have endangered national security.