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Luigi Mangione’s Manhattan murder trial will no longer begin next month, as his lawyers seek to have the state prosecution thrown out entirely following his unexpected guilty plea to federal charges stemming from the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Jury selection in the 28-year-old’s Manhattan Supreme Court case had been scheduled to get underway on Sept. 8.

That timetable was scrapped Monday when Justice Gregory Carro moved Mangione’s next court appearance to Dec. 10, effectively postponing the state trial indefinitely, according to court records.

Mangione’s attorneys are now seeking dismissal of the state charges based on his federal guilty plea, contending that another prosecution over Thompson’s killing would amount to “double jeopardy” by subjecting him to prosecution twice for the same crime.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, however, has made clear that it intends to fight the defense effort and press forward with its prosecution.

Carro has established a briefing schedule for the dispute, directing Manhattan prosecutors to submit their arguments by Oct. 9. Mangione’s lawyers will then have until Oct. 30 to file their response.

The legal battle follows Mangione’s stunning decision last week to plead guilty to two federal stalking charges, each of which carries the possibility of life behind bars.

During the federal proceeding, Mangione explicitly admitted responsibility for Thompson’s killing.

“On the morning of Dec. 4, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan, and he died,” the scion of a prominent Maryland family told the court.

Mangione is scheduled to receive his sentence in the federal case on Dec. 18, eight days after his next scheduled appearance in Manhattan Supreme Court.

The state prosecution remains pending in the meantime, with Mangione charged with second-degree murder and illegal weapons possession in connection with Thompson’s killing.

Ulrich Siegmund, branded “the most dangerous man in Germany” by the German weekly Der Spiegel, could soon make political history by becoming the first politician from the far-right AfD to lead a German state since World War II if current polling translates into votes.

Siegmund is heading the Alternative for Germany (AfD) ticket in Saxony-Anhalt ahead of regional elections set for early September. Polls show the party commanding significant support there, raising the possibility of an election result that could ultimately produce a government led by Siegmund.

The AfD has promoted its ambitions in the state under the slogan: Unser Gruß aus Sachsen-Anhalt an den Bundesparteitag: Das ist die Vision2026!

Der Spiegel placed Siegmund on its cover in an extraordinary feature describing him as “the most dangerous man in Germany,” pointing to his hardline views on immigration and minorities while highlighting broader concerns about the expanding influence of Germany’s far right. Siegmund dismissed the negative characterization and instead called the prominent coverage “excellent publicity,” subsequently using it as part of his own campaign.

The AfD has steadily expanded its political influence in recent years, with some of its strongest gains coming in eastern Germany. The party has attracted voters through its fierce opposition to immigration, European Union policies and Germany’s political establishment in Berlin. German security authorities have classified the AfD’s Saxony-Anhalt branch as a far-right organization subject to surveillance.

A Siegmund victory would represent a historic breakthrough for the AfD and an unprecedented development in Germany’s postwar political era, giving the party control of a state government for the first time.

Germany’s mainstream political parties are already confronting the prospect of an AfD-led government and are exploring alternative coalition arrangements designed to keep Siegmund from taking power. But with the election approaching, Siegmund and the AfD appear to be building momentum, potentially setting the stage for a dramatic shakeup of Germany’s political order.

{Matzav.com}

[COMMUNICATED]

Nineteen years ago, tragedy struck the Eckstein family when R’ Shlomo Tzvi Eckstein זצ״ל passed away, leaving behind eleven young children. Among them were his twin sons, Asher Anshel and Aharon Yosef, who were just six months old.

Their mother was left to raise eleven children on her own. Baruch Hashem, nine of the children have since married—and now, after nearly two decades, it is the twins’ turn to begin their own families.

Asher Anshel’s wedding will take place NEXT WEEK on August 24, 2026.

Aharon Yosef’s wedding will take place on October 26, 2026.

Two weddings. Just weeks apart.

As these two chashuve yesomim prepare to build their homes, the family and community are coming together to help make these simchos possible and allow both young men to begin married life with dignity and simcha.

We invite you to take part.

Every contribution, large or small, can make a real difference and help bring these two weddings to fruition.

Please donate today and help give these two yesomim the opportunity to enter their new lives with joy and dignity.

Donations can be made through the campaign. Donors’ Fund Tax ID: 11-3235771. Please make sure to designate the donation to the Eckstein account and write “Twin Weddings” in the memo.

May every person who helps bring simcha to these two yesomim be blessed with the fulfillment of the words:

אם אתה משמח את שלי אני משמח את שלך

Thank you for your generosity and support.

Tizku L’Mitzvos.

Please Donate today.

Dozens of passengers aboard a Blue Bird Airways flight bound for Crete were reportedly left sitting inside an aircraft without functioning air conditioning for nearly two hours Sunday, as temperatures inside the plane climbed and some passengers began feeling ill.

The passengers had already boarded the chartered aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport and were waiting on the tarmac for departure to the Greek island when the flight was delayed. With the ventilation system reportedly not functioning amid the intense August heat, conditions inside the cabin quickly deteriorated.

Footage from the aircraft showed parents attempting to cool their children and themselves using wipes and ice as they waited for the plane to depart.

One furious passenger described the conditions aboard the aircraft, saying: “We’ve been inside a closed plane for an hour and 40 minutes without air conditioning, with small children fainting. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”

The incident came amid significant congestion at Ben Gurion Airport. On Friday, unusually heavy traffic was reported at the airport, with approximately 90 flights accumulating within a period of just three hours.

The Israel Airports Authority attributed those delays to heavy air traffic and restrictions in European airspace, particularly over Greece, as well as the presence and operations of American aerial refueling aircraft. Officials denied reports that the disruptions were connected to a strike or staffing shortages.

Separately, El Al began selling tickets for flights to Vietnam approximately two months ago and has already sold more than 20,000 tickets to Israeli travelers. However, the airline currently lacks the necessary security authorization to operate the route, according to a report by Channel 13.

El Al confirmed that flights from Tel Aviv to Hanoi that were scheduled to begin in October have been canceled because the required approvals have not been granted by Israeli security authorities, including the Shin Bet.

The airline said the decision followed notification from Israeli security officials responsible for protecting Israeli aviation, operating under Shin Bet directives, that the necessary authorization could not be provided for the route to operate using Israeli aircraft and crews.

Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev accused El Al’s workers’ committee on Monday of mounting an effort to damage her standing in the Likud primaries, claiming the campaign against her is retaliation for her efforts to bring Wizz Air into the Israeli market and increase competition in air travel.

Speaking to reporters outside a polling station during the Likud primary election, Regev warned supporters that attempts were being made to push her lower on the party’s electoral slate.

“Anyone who tells you, ‘Miri Regev is strong,’ wants to weaken me,” Regev said. “You know that the El Al workers’ committee decided to knock me down the list. All because I decided to bring in Wizz Air.”

Despite the resistance she says she is facing, Regev insisted that she has no intention of abandoning the initiative to expand competition in Israel’s aviation industry.

“I said that I would bring down airfares, and that is what will happen,” she declared.

Regev said she would not allow pressure from organized labor to deter her from pursuing policies that she believes will benefit Israeli travelers.

“No workers’ committee will intimidate me or blackmail me,” the Transportation Minister added. “The citizens of the State of Israel are more important.”

{Matzav.com}

There was tremendous simcha and emotion in Yeshivas Brisk in Yerushalayim on Monday as the Rosh Yeshiva, Hagaon Rav Avrohom Yehoshua Soloveitchik, arrived at the yeshiva for the first time this Elul zman and delivered his shiur, following a difficult health period over the summer.

The Rosh Yeshiva’s arrival brought great joy and renewed hope to the talmidim and the entire Brisker olam after Rav Avrohom Yehoshua had been in serious condition during the summer months.

In recent days, word had begun circulating in the yeshiva that the Rosh Yeshiva was expected to resume delivering his regular shiurim. It was also learned that he is expected to stay in his new apartment, which was built adjacent to the yeshiva building.

Until Monday, however, there had been no definitive update, and the expectation was that the Rosh Yeshiva would begin delivering shiurim only later in the week.

To the great excitement of the talmidim, Rav Avrohom Yehoshua arrived Monday at the yeshiva and delivered the shiur, marking his first appearance in the yeshiva since the beginning of Elul zman.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu delivered a firm message to US Special Envoy Jared Kushner during a four-hour meeting Monday, insisting that Hamas must disarm and make concessions before Israel takes further steps under the American-backed 15-point Gaza peace plan, including withdrawing IDF forces from the Strip.

Kushner met with Netanyahu as Washington intensifies efforts to advance implementation of the plan. During their lengthy talks, the US envoy urged the Israeli premier to “not create obstacles” to moving the agreement forward, CNN reported, citing an Israeli source.

Netanyahu responded that progress cannot come at Israel’s expense, maintaining that Hamas must first give ground and surrender its weapons before Israel proceeds with additional provisions of the framework, including an IDF pullback from Gaza. The prime minister also reportedly told Kushner that advancing the plan ahead of the October Knesset elections could create political difficulties and damage his standing among his electoral base.

Despite those disagreements, the meeting produced an agreement to establish two joint working groups between Israel and the Board of Peace, the Prime Minister’s Office announced afterward. The groups will address separate components of the Gaza framework.

The Prime Minister’s Office stated: “The Prime Minister and Board of Peace had deep and constructive discussions. It was agreed to establish two working groups, one on disarmament and demilitarization of Gaza, which both Israel and the Board of Peace are determined should be prompt and completed before any reconstruction happens in Gaza. A second working group will focus on sanitation, clean water and other public health issues for the people of Gaza and which also impact the people of Israel.”

The principal disagreement between Washington and Jerusalem centers on the order in which the plan’s provisions would be carried out. The 15-point framework envisions an end to military operations, Hamas disarmament, the transfer of civilian control in Gaza to a Palestinian technocratic administration, a phased Israeli military withdrawal and the establishment of an international stabilization force.

The American proposal calls for Hamas’s disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal to advance simultaneously through a series of steps that can be independently verified. Israel has rejected that sequencing, insisting that its forces will not relinquish their positions in Gaza until Hamas has been fully disarmed. Jerusalem has publicly said it cannot accept the framework as it currently stands.

Hamas, meanwhile, has said that it accepts the broader framework. During recent negotiations in Egypt attended by Kushner, mediators pressed the terror group to surrender its weapons and relinquish responsibility for governing Gaza.

An official familiar with the discussions with Hamas said the demands being presented to the group include measures aimed at preserving the ceasefire, transferring administrative authority to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and ensuring that Hamas is excluded from any future governing structure. Hamas would also be required to dismantle its weapons and military infrastructure, while an international stabilization force enters Gaza, Israel carries out corresponding withdrawals and humanitarian aid and reconstruction are accelerated.

Even as the Board of Peace presses Israel to move ahead, its officials reportedly believe that Jerusalem is already adhering in practice to portions of the understandings. Those officials view some of the Israeli government’s public rhetoric as driven by domestic political considerations and are therefore placing greater emphasis on Israel’s actions on the ground.

Kushner’s recent meeting in Egypt marked the first time he had met with senior Hamas figures since the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. Participants included Hamas political bureau chief Khalil al-Hayya, Egyptian intelligence chief General Hassan Rashad, Qatari minister Ali al-Thawadi and a senior Turkish official.