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[Video below.] NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman warned that the United States is once again engaged in a fierce race to the moon, saying China is advancing rapidly and could soon establish its own human presence on the lunar surface unless America moves first.

Appearing Sunday on CBS News’ Face the Nation, Isaacman said the competition with Beijing has become one of the nation’s top strategic challenges.

“The Chinese are moving at incredible speeds, and they are certainly capable of doing what the Soviets were not during the first space race,” Isaacman said. “The Chinese will land their taikonauts on the moon. There’s no question.”

While expressing confidence in China’s capabilities, Isaacman said the more pressing issue is whether the United States can beat China back to the moon and establish a permanent foothold there.

“The question is, will the United States return before them, and will we do so in a different way this time, when we build a base, establish that enduring presence? I think the answer is yes.”

NASA has continued making progress toward that goal. Following the successful Artemis II mission in April, during which four astronauts circled the moon, the agency recently announced the crew for the next Artemis mission, scheduled for next year.

The Artemis III mission is expected to play a critical role in preparing for America’s return to the lunar surface in 2028 by testing key landing technologies and systems.

Isaacman explained that Artemis III will involve a complex series of operations designed to validate the equipment needed for future lunar missions.

“You’re going to see the three most powerful rockets in the world … And then you’re going to have the landers come together in Earth orbit, test out their capabilities, very a la Apollo 9, give us the confidence in our landers for Artemis IV in 2028. This is an achievable plan to put astronauts back on the surface of the moon.”

Beyond returning astronauts to the moon, Isaacman said NASA intends to begin creating a permanent lunar outpost. He said the agency plans to launch missions at an almost monthly pace during 2027 to establish what he described as a proving ground for future exploration of Mars.

Looking ahead, Isaacman predicted construction of the lunar base could begin as early as next year. By the time astronauts return to the moon in 2028, he said, they should find the first elements of a permanent settlement already in place.

“There’s going to be a buggy there, a lunar terrain vehicle, there’s going to be a start of infrastructure … [and] I would say, early 2030s, the moon is going to be like the International Space Station.”

He added that astronauts will eventually spend extended periods living and working on the moon as NASA gains experience operating in the lunar environment before undertaking future missions to Mars.

“You’re going to have crews that are there on pretty extended periods of time, as we learn in that environment and prepare for Mars.”

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{Matzav.com}

A federal appeals court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to reinstall revised historical exhibits at the site of President George Washington’s former Philadelphia residence, rejecting an effort to block displays that critics argue soften the history of slavery in early America.

The interpretive panels are slated to be placed at the President’s House site, just steps from where the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. The National Park Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

The updated displays are intended to replace exhibits installed in 2010 that focused on the lives of the nine enslaved people who lived in the household of George and Martha Washington during the 1790s, when Philadelphia served as the nation’s temporary capital.

The changes were prompted by President Donald Trump’s 2025 executive order directing federally owned historic sites to avoid presenting material that would “disparage Americans past or living” and instead emphasize the “greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people.”

Friday’s decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit was procedural in nature, allowing a ruling issued last month to take effect. The appellate court sits directly across the street from the President’s House historic site.

The earlier ruling—issued by a panel consisting of one judge appointed by Trump, one appointed by President George W. Bush, and one appointed by President Barack Obama—held that a lower court had improperly ordered the federal government to remove the revised exhibits.

On Thursday, the administration asked the court for permission to immediately reinstall the panels, arguing that they were ready to be put in place and should be installed “without further delay.” Court filings submitted by the administration maintain that the new exhibits continue to address the subject of slavery.

Historians, academics, preservation advocates, and public officials have expressed concern for months that the revised presentation, drafted to comply with Trump’s executive order, minimizes the brutality of slavery in favor of a more celebratory account of American history.

Images posted on a government website show that the replacement panels still discuss the enslaved people who lived at the President’s House and include information about the abolitionist movement, the Constitution’s treatment of slavery, the abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania, the views and actions of George Washington and President John Adams regarding slavery, and the Civil Rights movement of the 20th century. However, the new displays omit some material that appeared on the earlier panels, including a map of the transatlantic slave trade, a slavery timeline, and headings such as “The Dirty Business of Slavery.”

The City of Philadelphia, which sued after the original exhibits were removed, continues to fight the changes. On Friday, city attorneys asked the appeals court to temporarily withdraw its order, at least long enough for the city to formally respond to the administration’s request filed the previous day.

In its filing, Philadelphia argued that allowing the new panels to be installed would cause harm, stating: “The President’s House is a site of exceptional importance to Philadelphia and the Nation, developed through years of federal-local collaboration to tell a historically significant and long-suppressed story.”

Roughly half of the original interpretive panels had already been reinstalled earlier this year before a court order halted that effort.

Two 21-year-old British men narrowly avoided serving prison time after admitting to filming a TikTok video in which they walked through a heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in London carrying a fishing rod while announcing they were “catching Jews.”

According to a report published by the London Evening Standard, both men pleaded guilty and were each sentenced to six weeks in prison. However, the sentences were suspended for 12 months, allowing them to avoid immediate incarceration.

The incident occurred on May 7 in Stamford Hill, home to one of the largest Orthodox Jewish communities in the United Kingdom. During the video, the pair joked about going “fishing for Jews” and verbally harassed a local Jewish resident as part of content they intended to post on social media.

The Metropolitan Police said the suspects attempted to flee when officers arrived at the scene but were quickly caught and taken into custody.

In addition to the suspended prison sentences, the court ordered each defendant to complete 150 hours of community service and participate in 20 days of rehabilitation. They were also directed to pay £85 in court costs.

The case comes amid a significant increase in antisemitic violence across Britain. Among the recent incidents was the stabbing of two Orthodox Jewish men in the Golders Green neighborhood in late April.

Following that attack, British authorities raised the nation’s terrorism threat level from “substantial” to “severe,” marking the first such increase in more than four years.

According to figures released for 2025, the United Kingdom recorded the world’s highest per-capita rate of violent antisemitic attacks, documenting 121 serious assaults against a Jewish population of roughly 300,000.

{Matzav.com}

As the Israeli government moves toward revoking tax-deductible donation status for yeshivos that enroll students classified as military draft evaders, Rav Nachum Bombach, chairman of the board of Yeshivas Itri and a certified public accountant, said the measure would undoubtedly create challenges but expressed confidence that the Torah world would endure.

Speaking with Avi Mimran on Kol Chai Radio’s central news program, Bombach explained that Section 46 of Israel’s Income Tax Ordinance allows donors to approved public institutions to receive a tax credit equal to 35 percent of their contribution, making it a significant incentive for charitable giving.

Even so, Bombach said it remains unclear how severely the proposed change would affect donations.

“A person who donates to a yeshiva is not donating because of the tax benefit,” he said. “After all, 65% of the donation isn’t recognized anyway. If someone chooses to support a yeshiva, it’s possible that the tax benefit is only a secondary consideration. It could even motivate people to continue giving despite losing the benefit. We simply don’t know what the actual impact will be.”

Bombach acknowledged that eliminating the tax incentive appears to be a serious financial blow but noted that yeshivos have already weathered more difficult crises, including the sharp reductions in government funding over the past year and a half.

“Clearly, on the surface, this seems like a significant blow, but we’ve dealt with things that were even worse. The yeshivos survived the budget cuts, and we’ll get through this as well.”

During the interview, Bombach was also asked whether yeshivos could preserve their Section 46 status by placing students classified as draft evaders into a separate nonprofit organization while maintaining the primary institution’s eligibility.

He dismissed the idea as unrealistic.

“I don’t think it’s a practical solution at all. The state would argue that it’s a fictitious arrangement and would never allow it.”

Concluding the interview, Bombach addressed the broader legal and political battle surrounding the draft of bnei yeshivos, saying he believes there are those who are actively seeking to undermine the Torah world.

“We have to deal with the situation,” he said. “We hope that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will bring us better times. For now, this is the reality. The yeshivos have survived, they will survive, and they will continue to grow even stronger.”