Feed aggregator

The IDF on Monday eliminated Ahmed Aish Salame al-Hashash, the head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s rocket unit in Rafah. As per Gazan terrorists’ customary mode of operation, Al-Hashash was using Gazan civilians as human shields and firing rockets at Israel from the humanitarian area in Khan Younis. After taking measures to protect civilians, IDF fighter jets carried out a precision strike, killing Al-Hashash. “Al-Hashash was responsible for the Islamic Jihad’s rocket attacks from Rafah and was an important source of knowledge in PIJ’s rocket array,” the IDF said. “During the war, Al-Hashash was responsible for firing rockets from inside the humanitarian area toward Israeli civilians.” “At the time of the strike, Al-Hashash was embedded and operating inside the humanitarian Area in Khan Younis. Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence.” “Terror organizations in the Gaza Strip are systematically violating international law, exploiting civilian institutions and the population as human shields for terrorist actions. The IDF will continue to operate with strength and determination against these terrorist groups.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

LISTEN:

https://matzav.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Stories4Life-Shiur-348-Worth-It.mp3

Israel’s security cabinet has added a new war goal: to return the residents of the north to their homes, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) announced early Tuesday morning. Israel’s security cabinet met in the Kiryah in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night following the meetings of US special envoy Amos Hochstein with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant earlier in the day. Hochstein flew to Israel as part of the Biden administration’s last-ditch attempt to forge a diplomatic solution to the Hezbollah terror group’s ongoing attacks on Israel. However, both Gallant and Netanyahu made it clear to Hochstein that “the window for a diplomatic solution” has passed and Israel must do what it takes to restore security to its northern border. There are currently 68,500 displaced Israelis who were evacuated from their homes close to the northern border in the wake of the October 7 assault and subsequent Hezbollah attacks on Israel. And of course, there are hundreds of thousands of Israelis living in the north in communities that were not evacuated but are under constant Hezbollah fire. Returning those residents to their homes, which will not be possible without an all-out war with Hezbollah, has now been added  to the preexisting war goals of the destruction of Hamas and the return of the hostages, an apparent signal that Israel has decided to launch a war with Hezbollah Ynet reported that senior IDF officials support extending the war to the north, saying that there’s no possibility of returning northern residents to their homes with a diplomatic agreement alone. Even those who initially supported a diplomatic agreement have changed their minds in the wake of Hezbollah’s increasingly aggressive attacks that have lasted for almost a year. The IDF has learned more about the operations of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force along the border. Although most Radwan terrorists have been killed or fled northward, they left behind much infrastructure and military sources say that IDF forces must carry out a ground operation to dismantle it. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

WATCH:

The United States announced new sanctions Monday against a commercial spyware company headed by a former Israeli military officer whose program allowed easy access to almost any information stored on a smartphone. U.S. officials and private researchers say Intellexa Consortium’s products have been used for mass surveillance campaigns around the world, allowing unscrupulous users to track and obtain sensitive information from dissidents, journalists, political candidates and opposition figures. The penalties target five people and one organization connected to Intellexa, a Greece-based network of companies with subsidiaries in North Macedonia, Hungary, Ireland and the British Virgin Islands. The company developed and sold a suite of spyware tools known as Predator that allowed entry into a target’s device without requiring them to click on a link or attachment. The program would then grant access to the camera and microphone as well as any data or files stored on the compromised phone. “The United States will not tolerate the reckless propagation of disruptive technologies that threatens our national security and undermines the privacy and civil liberties of our citizens,” said Bradley T. Smith, acting undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence. Several subsidiaries of Intellexa and two employees, including its founder, were sanctioned earlier this year by the Biden administration. Last year, the Commerce Department blacklisted Intellexa and one of its subsidiaries, denying them access to U.S. technology. The five people subject to the new penalties each held senior positions at Intellexa or one of its subsidiaries, U.S. officials say. The Aliada Group, another subsidiary based in the British Virgin Islands, also was sanctioned over allegations of enabling financial transactions for Intellexa that totaled tens of millions of dollars, officials said. Messages left with Intellexa and its executives were not immediately returned Monday. Intellexa was created in 2019 by former Israeli military officer Tal Dilian. Dilian and Sara Hamou, a corporate offshoring specialist who has provided managerial services to Intellexa, were penalized earlier this year in what Biden administration officials said was the first time sanctions were issued over the misuse of spyware. Individuals and organizations under sanctions are prohibited from engaging in business or financial transactions within the U.S. or with U.S. entities. Amnesty International’s Security Lab published a report last year that found Predator had been used to target but not necessarily infect devices connected to the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-Wen, as well as Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. Europe also has faced a number of spyware incidents. Predator spyware was reportedly used in Greece, a revelation that helped precipitate the resignation in 2022 of two top government officials, including the national intelligence director. (AP)

The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Niger is complete, an American official said Monday. A small number of military personnel assigned to guard the U.S. Embassy remain, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters. Earlier this year, Niger’s ruling junta ended an agreement that allowed U.S. troops to operate in the West African country. A few months later, officials from both countries said in a joint statement that U.S. troops would complete their withdrawal by the middle of September. The U.S. handed over its last military bases in Niger to local authorities last month, but about two dozen American soldiers had remained in Niger, largely for administrative duties related to the withdrawal, Singh said. Niger’s ouster of American troops following a coup last year has broad ramifications for Washington because it’s forcing troops to abandon critical bases that were used for counterterrorism missions in the Sahel. groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group operate in the vast region south of the Sahara desert. One of those groups, Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, known as JNIM, is active in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, and is looking to expand into Benin and Togo. Niger had been seen as one of the last nations in the restive region that Western nations could partner with to beat back growing jihadi insurgencies. The U.S. and France had more than 2,500 military personnel in the region until recently, and together with other European countries had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance and training. In recent months Niger has pulled away from its Western partners, turning instead to Russia for security. In April, Russian military trainers arrived in Niger to reinforce the country’s air defenses. (AP)

A top aide to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson apologized for referring to police as “f***ing pigs” but denies charges that she heckled the only Jewish member of the Chicago City Council, WTTW News reported.

While Kennedy Bartley, 29, the mayor’s managing deputy for external relations, “apologized for her anti-police remarks, she declined to express regret for posting ‘From the river to the sea. Palestine will be free. Amen!’ on her private account on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, on Oct. 9—just two days after the Hamas attacks on Israel,” per WTTW.

“Bartley said she does not agree with some Jewish American groups that the phrase is antisemitic,” the news organization reported. “Bartley said it is a call for freedom for Palestinians and the establishment of a Palestinian state, not a call for the destruction of Israel.”

“Bartley said she did not understand when she made that post that the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ had been ‘weaponized’ by those who want Israel to cease to exist. That is the stated goal of Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government,” WTTW added. “While Bartley said she would be more ‘mindful’ of that context in the future, she declined to say she would never use the phrase again.”

Debra Silverstein, an alderman and the Chicago City Council’s lone Jewish member, said of Bartley’s post that “to me and, I’m sure, to the majority of the mainstream Jewish community, it was similar to a congratulations to Hamas, an internationally known terrorist organization,” per the Chicago Sun-Times.

Scott Waguespack, another city alderman, told the Sun-Times that he heard Bartley and others “snapping and whistling and jeering” while Silverstein spoke before the City Council, before the mayor cast the tie-breaking vote to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“That’s why I yelled. That was the first time I’ve sort of been like, ‘Hey, be quiet and don’t be disrespectful,’” Waguespack told the Sun-Times. “I thought it was extremely disrespectful and trying to shout her down.”

“I’m not Jewish, but I don’t understand this. I would think that the community would see that behavior as deep behavior that’s not gonna go away with an apology,” Waguespack told the paper.

Silverstein told the Sun-Times that Bartley tried to call her but that “I’m not forgiving that fast.”

(JNS)

Iran’s new reformist president insisted Monday that Tehran didn’t want to enrich uranium at near-weapons grade levels but had been forced to by the U.S. withdrawal from its nuclear deal with world powers. The comments by President Masoud Pezeshkian, in response to a question by The Associated Press at his first news conference, underlines a campaign promise he made to try to see international sanctions on the Islamic Republic lifted. However, it remains unclear just how much room for negotiation Pezeshkian will have — and just who will be in the White House come next year. “I think, we said many times, we don’t want to do this at all. We want to solve our technical and scientific needs, we are not looking for nuclear weapons,” Pezeshkian said. “We adhered to the framework written in the (nuclear deal). We are still looking to maintain those frameworks. They tore them, they forced us to do something.” He added: “If they don’t continue, we will not continue,” Pezeshkian’s comments came as Iran enriches uranium up to 60% purity, which is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran long has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, but Western nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency say Iran had a military nuclear program up until 2003. Iran’s supreme leader, the 85-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has opened the door to possible negotiations by earlier telling its civilian government there was “no harm” in engaging with its “enemy.” There have been indirect talks between Iran and the U.S. in recent years mediated by Oman and Qatar, two of Washington’s Middle East interlocutors when it comes to Iran. Pezeshkian’s new foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, also was deeply involved in negotiating the 2015 deal. Meanwhile, tensions between Iran and Israel have hit a new high during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Tehran launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel in April. A shadow war between the two countries over the years reached a climax with Israel’s apparent attack on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed two Iranian generals and others. The July assassination in Tehran of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, suspected to have been carried out by Israel, also prompted Iran to threaten to retaliate against Israel. Pezeshkian, meanwhile, said that Iran wouldn’t give up its ballistic missile arsenal “unless all are disarmed in our region.” He made a point to say that Israel should disarm after earlier criticizing its conduct in the ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “We need military power for the security of our people and country,” he said. “We will not lose our defense power unless all are disarmed in our region. If America also respects our rights, we have no dispute. Do not sanction or threaten us, we will not be threatened.” (AP)

In early February, nearly 100 protesters who called for Pennsylvania to divest from Israel bonds were arrested at the state Capitol. “Israel is our greatest ally in the Middle East, and I will always stand with them,” Stacy Garrity, the state treasurer, said at the time. “Israel bonds are a smart, dependable investment with a proven track record, and it’s especially important to show our support at a time when the people of Israel are facing horrific terrorism.”

Pennsylvania invests some $56 million in Israel Bonds, including a $20 million investment since Oct. 7, according to an Oct. 12 press release from the state treasurer. That investment has been a frequent area in which Erin McClelland, Garrity’s Democratic challenger, has criticized the state treasurer.

McClelland, an Allegheny County Department of Human Services policy adviser, and a former substance abuse and mental-health counselor, has described Israel Bonds often as risky investments.

“Moody’s downgraded Israel’s credit rating citing concerns of foreign political instability, governance, debt/GDP ratio since March 2023,” she wrote in February. “The increasing risk in economic indicators is not a smart, stable investment for workers’ pensions or the Pennsylvania Treasury.”

“Hyper-polarization of economic data makes for bad policy. The downgrade of Israel’s credit rating is a setback,” she wrote in another February post, sharing a quote from Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said that Israel doesn’t judge its economic strength based on how the world evaluates it.

“This disproportionate and inflammatory response from their finance minister is very alarming,” she added. “This is not where we should invest workers’ pensions and Pennsylvania tax dollars.” (JNS sought comment from McClelland several times.)

McClelland has also said that investing in Israel bonds could make Pennsylvania a potential terror target. “We’ve seen an increase in those attacks since October,” she told the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. “We saw the Aliquippa Water Authority get hacked by Iran because they use an Israeli-made software system.”

Garrity, a 30-year Army Reserve veteran, told JNS the commonwealth’s longstanding holdings of Israel Bonds are evidence of its nonpartisan nature, and state treasurers must use the “prudent investor standard” in their decisions rather than playing partisan politics with taxpayer funds.

“On both sides of the aisle, regardless of your political party, Pennsylvania has been investing in these bonds,” she told JNS.

The Keystone State has held Israel Bonds since 1993, with a typical balance of $20 to $40 million, according to Garrity. The current balance represents about 2% of the state’s entire fixed-income allocation, and all purchases, including those after Oct. 7, fall within the state Treasury’s investment policy statement, she said.

“It’s one of the better-performing fixed income investments that we have,” Garrity told JNS. “Israel Bonds have strong returns above market. They’re very reliable, and so they clearly meet the standard.”

Garrity added that her decision and that of her predecessors to invest in Israel Bonds goes beyond solid financial returns.

“With Israel being our greatest ally in the Middle East, I’m always going to stand with them, and that is why we invested the additional $20 million,” she told JNS. “It’s part of the reason state treasurers of both parties have invested in them for more than 30 years.”

“Investing in Israel Bonds is a great investment for the commonwealth, and it’s a great investment in democracy,” she added.

Six months after Oct. 7, Israel Bonds said its global sales since the massacre had surpassed $3 billion, with more than 35 U.S. state and municipal bodies investing a total of $1.7 billion.

The total figure is nearly three times the company’s average annual sales volume in recent years.

McClelland has stated that Pennsylvania should focus on investing in American companies rather than foreign entities, insisting that her criticism of Garrity’s practices is not focused narrowly on Israel.

But Garrity told JNS that it is a best practice in investing to diversify internationally.

“Foreign markets and individual stocks are going to move in different circles in U.S. markets and reduce volatility in the portfolio,” she said.

“Some of the world’s best companies are domiciled outside of the United States,” she added, citing companies like Nestle, Samsung, Anheuser-Busch and Airbus.

In her visits to all 67 counties in Pennsylvania, Garrity has heard broad support for Israel Bonds, she told JNS.

“They applaud when I talk about investing in Israel Bonds,” she said.

She told JNS that she was protested twice—in February at the state Capitol and in March, when activists conducted a “die-in,” pretending to lie dead on the ground, in front of the state Treasury office building.

“The only die-in that happened was Oct. 7, so that really doesn’t bother me,” Garrity told JNS of the protest. “There’s just a lot of unfortunate death, but I’m former military, so I don’t get so squishy, and I think the thing to do is stand by our great ally.”

(JNS)

Former President Donald Trump publicly detailed the second assassination attempt against him for the first time on Monday, praising the quick actions of the Secret Service, law enforcement, and a sharp-witted witness who helped capture the suspect. “It was very peaceful, very beautiful weather, everything was beautiful, a nice place to be,” Trump said during a conversation on X Spaces. “All of a sudden we heard shots being fired in the air—probably four or five—and it sounded like bullets. But Secret Service knew immediately it was bullets, and they grabbed me.” Trump explained how he was quickly moved off the golf course by the Secret Service. “We got into the carts and moved along pretty good,” Trump said. “The agent did a fantastic job. There was no question that we were off that course. I would have loved to have sunk that last putt, but we decided, let’s get out of here.” According to Trump, one of the Secret Service agents spotted the gunman’s weapon through the bushes and immediately engaged. “He started shooting at the barrel, started shooting in the bushes,” Trump recounted. “Could only see the barrel. Based on that, he started shooting and ran toward the target.” Trump went on to credit a civilian witness, a woman, for playing a crucial role in the suspect’s capture. The witness reportedly followed the gunman as he fled and took a photo of the back of his car, which led to his identification. “The civilian did a phenomenal job,” Trump said. “Who would think, you could take a thousand situations like that, how many people would have the brainpower to follow him and take pictures of the back of his truck?” The photo, which included the vehicle’s license plate, allowed law enforcement to track the suspect down quickly. “They got the license, and after that, there’s all sorts of technology where they can literally pinpoint where this truck is,” Trump noted. “I never knew something like that existed.” “It was quite something, but it worked out well and Secret Service did an excellent job,” he said. “They have the man behind bars, and hopefully he’s going to be there for a long time. Dangerous person, very, very dangerous person.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Venezuela’s main opposition coalition on Monday called on the U.S. to cancel the licenses that allow Chevron and other energy companies to operate in the South American country to pressure President Nicolás Maduro to negotiate a transition from power. The appeal came from an adviser to the campaign of Edmundo González Urrutia, who represented the Unitary Platform coalition in the July 28 election, and his main backer, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. González and Machado claim their campaign won the vote by a wide margin, contradicting the decision of national electoral authorities to declare Maduro the winner. “We want them canceled … this is a lifeline to the regime,” adviser Rafael de la Cruz said in reference to the licenses during a panel discussion hosted by a Washington-based think tank. “We want all the oil companies to go to Venezuela. So, it’s not about the companies. It’s about the situation that is impoverishing the country so badly that practically the whole population wants this regime gone.” California-based Chevron is the largest company to have received an individual permission from the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to do business with Venezuela’s state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., better known as PDVSA. The Treasury Department sanctioned PDVSA in 2019 as part of a policy punishing Maduro’s government for corrupt, anti-democratic and criminal activities. Chevron’s license was issued in 2022 after Maduro and the opposition coalition jumpstarted a negotiation process. In October, the Treasury Department granted Venezuela a broad reprieve from sanctions after Maduro and the opposition agreed to work to improve electoral conditions ahead of the 2024 presidential contest. But as hopes for a democratic opening faded, the Biden administration clawed back the relief. The White House left open the possibility for companies to apply for licenses exempting them from the restrictions, which could attract additional investment to the country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves. European companies have benefited from individual licenses. De la Cruz said the González-Machado campaign wants “to find common ground” with oil companies. But, he said, their presence in Venezuela at the moment give Maduro the ability to try to “normalize … de facto dictatorship that he is trying to set up in Venezuela.” Chevron did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from The Associated Press. Venezuela’s electoral authorities declared Maduro the victor hours after polls closed on July 28 but unlike previous presidential elections they never released detailed vote tallies to back up their claim, arguing that the National Electoral Council’s website was hacked. To the surprise of supporters and opponents, González and Machado shortly afterward announced not only that their campaign had obtained vote tallies from over two-thirds of the electronic voting machines used in the election but also that they had published them online to show the world that Maduro had lost. Global condemnation over the lack of transparency prompted Maduro to ask Venezuela’s high court, stacked with ruling party loyalists, to audit the results. The court reaffirmed his victory. After the disputed election, legislation was introduced in the U.S. Congress to prohibit American investments in Venezuela’s oil sector and to impose visa restrictions on current and former Maduro government officials. Resolutions recognizing a González victory were also introduced in the House and Senate. González, a former diplomat, […]

The individual accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at his golf course on Sunday had previously urged the Iranian government to eliminate the former president in a book he co-authored with his wife, Kathleen Shaffer.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, expressed remorse to the Iranian people, claiming responsibility for his 2016 vote for Trump in his self-published book, Ukraine’s Unwinnable War. The book is a disorganized reflection on his views regarding global politics.

“I must take part of the blame for the retarded child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless, but I am man enough to say that I misjudged and made a terrible mistake and Iran I apologize,” Routh states in the book, which was released last year.

“You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the [nuclear] deal. No one here in the US seems to have the balls to put natural selection to work or even unnatural selection,” Routh added.

In 2018, two years after taking office, Trump withdrew the U.S. from a nuclear deal with Iran and reinstated sanctions that had previously been eased as part of the 2015 agreement.

In addition to his call for Trump’s assassination, Routh also advocated for the killing of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the same book. The book, edited by Shaffer, 61, who works as a manager at Old Navy in Hawaii, is still available on Amazon.

“We all ponder as to why our great minds did not simply kill Hitler early on, and now why have we not taken steps to kill Putin at all costs to end this war,” Routh writes.

According to reports, Secret Service agents encountered Routh on Sunday near the fifth and sixth holes of Trump’s golf course, located close to the Mar-a-Lago resort.

Agents reportedly spotted Routh’s firearm sticking out of nearby bushes, prompting one agent to fire a shot, causing him to flee his position where he had allegedly been stationed for nearly 12 hours.

Routh escaped to his car and drove away, but a witness managed to take a photo of his vehicle, including the license plate. He was subsequently arrested while traveling on I-95.

Routh appeared in federal court on Monday morning, facing charges for possessing a firearm despite a prior felony conviction, as well as having a gun with an obliterated serial number.

In his lengthy book, Routh recounts a five-month effort to join the war in Ukraine, comparing his situation to that of British author George Orwell, who went to Spain in 1936 to fight against fascism during the Spanish Civil War.

“I, just like every other good human with a moral compass, knew that the right thing to do was to go to Ukraine and fight for freedom and human rights, and that is what I did,” Routh claims, noting that it took him a month to pack his belongings, store them, and acquire unspecified “military gear” for the journey.

Routh describes traveling to Poland with the hope of enlisting but says he was rejected due to his age and lack of military background.

His attempts to participate in the Ukrainian conflict in 2022 by volunteering in any capacity were unsuccessful. He set up a temporary tent for international volunteers in Kyiv’s Independence Square, but it was dismantled by police a few weeks later.

When Routh tried to set up camp in another public square, he again faced resistance from both Ukrainian authorities and citizens.

“I had hoped that I could bend Ukraine towards democracy and freedom and human rights and be a representative of the USA,” Routh writes. “I lost the fight. It was a childish, idealistic endeavor that was unwinnable.”

Throughout his book, Routh frequently complains about the costs he personally incurred for food and shelter, claiming he received no support from the Ukrainians, despite his intentions to help defend them against Russian aggression.

“Far more saddening than the difference in mindset is the lack of appreciation for those that pay to travel to Ukraine and risk death to fight for their freedom,” he said. “There seems to be a total disregard for the sacrifice.”

The book also contains graphic images depicting violence from Iran, Afghanistan, and other global conflict zones.

{Matzav.com}

A Christian pastor from California has been freed from China after nearly 20 years behind bars and is back home in the U.S., the State Department said Monday. David Lin, 68, was detained after he entered China in 2006, later convicted of contract fraud and sentenced to life in prison, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and advocacy groups. “We welcome David Lin’s release from prison in the People’s Republic of China. He has returned to the United States and now gets to see his family for the first time in nearly 20 years,” the State Department said. Lin frequently traveled to China in the 1990s for religious purposes, according to China Aid, an U.S.-based advocacy group for persecuted activists in China. The group said Lin sought a license from the Chinese government to carry out Christian ministry. It’s unlikely he was granted permission, and he was detained in 2006 when assisting an underground church, China Aid said. Lin was formally arrested in 2009 on suspicion of contract fraud and, after a court review, was sentenced to life in prison, China Aid said. The charge is frequently used against leaders in the house church movement, which operates outside state-sponsored faith groups, and is a crime that Lin denied, according to the Dui Hua Foundation, a humanitarian group that advocates for prisoners in China. The commission on religious freedom says “those who participate in and lead house churches often face intimidation, harassment, arrest and harsh sentences.” In China, all Christian churches must pledge loyalty to the ruling Communist Party and register with the government. Any unregistered church is considered an underground church, and its activities are considered unlawful in China. Beijing has always cracked down on “unlawful preaching,” and efforts have only intensified in the past decade. Lin’s sentence had been reduced and he had been due for release in April 2030. The commission on religious freedom noted in 2019 that there were reports Lin was in declining health and faced possible threats to his safety in prison. The Chinese foreign ministry didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment about Lin’s release. It comes after national security adviser Jake Sullivan visited China late last month, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top officials, in a bid to keep communication open as tensions have increased between U.S. and China. Other Americans known to remain detained in China include Mark Swidan, who was sentenced on drug charges, and Kai Li, a businessman who is being held on espionage-related charges that his family says are bogus. Rep. Michael McCaul, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was “extremely glad” Lin was released after 17 years behind bars in China and called for Li and Swidan to be freed immediately. Lin’s “capture, like so many others, marks a rising trend of hostage diplomacy by authoritarians around the world,” McCaul said on the social platform X. (AP)

The Secret Service is facing new scrutiny after a gunman came within range of former president Trump for the second time in less than 10 weeks on Sunday, raising concerns about whether the elite protective agency is stretched too thin in a politically polarized nation where many people have ready access to guns.

“Thank God the president’s OK,” President Joe Biden said Monday to reporters. “One thing I want to make clear: The service needs more help.”

Biden declined to provide additional details about the agency’s needs but urged Congress to consider increasing the agency’s funding and allowing it to hire more staff.

Secret Service agents’ quick actions likely prevented Sunday’s incident in Florida from escalating, law-enforcement officials said. Authorities quickly detained Ryan Wesley Routh and charged him Monday with two gun-related crimes at a federal courthouse in West Palm Beach, Fla.

But the latest potential attempt on Trump’s life happened before the agency, Congress, and other oversight bodies had completed their assessment of the security breakdowns ahead of the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania. In that incident, a gunman armed with an AR-style weapon climbed atop an unmonitored roof and fired several shots at a campaign rally, killing one attendee and injuring others, including Trump.

Multiple federal investigations are underway into the July 13 attack, including a 60-day “mission assurance” review by the Secret Service, an independent investigation ordered by Biden and the Department of Homeland Security that is expected to conclude in early October, as well as probes by Congress and the DHS Inspector General, the agency’s internal watchdog.

The Secret Service plans to launch another mission assurance review of Sunday’s attack, though it has not yet published the findings of its July 13 internal review, said agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

The Washington Post reported last week that the internal review had confirmed security failures that led to the July assassination attempt, including that the service never directed local police to secure the roof of the building used by the gunman. Agency officials said they increased equipment and personnel for Trump and other protectees – more than 40 officials and their family members – in response to the attack.

In contrast, the Secret Service won praise for its handling of Sunday’s incident.

A sharp-eyed agent scouting ahead as Trump golfed at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach spotted a gun barrel poking through a tree-shaded chain-link fence and opened fire, giving the team accompanying the former president time to rush him to safety.

Rep. Bill Keating, a Democrat from Massachusetts who investigated the government’s failure to prevent the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, said in an interview Monday that Congress and others should increase the Secret Service’s resources and beef up its policies and procedures to allow it to more quickly identify and neutralize threats.

He said officials should consider surging resources to protectees such as Trump based on the threat levels they are facing, and not on whether they are a sitting president or only a candidate for office. He said lawmakers also should consider jettisoning some of the agency’s nonprotective duties, such as investigating some financial crimes.

“The index for increased violence is clearly going up,” Keating said.

He said Congress should urgently examine the agency’s needs and resources, as well as its organizational structure.

“With two instances so close together, we may not be as fortunate in the future,” he said.

The second attack on Trump occurred just as the Secret Service is preparing for one of its most challenging events, the United Nations General Assembly, which draws scores of world leaders to New York, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

And the presidential campaign is in full swing, with under two months to go before the November elections. Trump is expected to meet Monday with the acting director of the Secret Service. On Monday night, Trump is scheduled to unveil a new cryptocurrency business. Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to meet with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a union that has not endorsed a presidential candidate.

Multiple Democratic members of Congress have called for increasing Secret Service funding in the weeks since the July 13 attempt on Trump’s life.

“We have a heightened threat environment … We have a current president, we have a former president running, we have a vice president who’s a presidential candidate, and we have all their families, and that’s not even to mention all the vice-presidential candidates,” Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a member of the bipartisan House committee investigating the July 13 assassination attempt, said on Fox News on Monday. “The Secret Service told us very clearly last week that they are redlined. They are working overtime, over time – double overtime. These folks are burning out, they need new resources. We need to get them help so that they can do the job that the Americans, people expect them to do.”

But House Republicans have consistently stymied additional funding for the Secret Service over the past year as a right-wing bloc of the GOP conference has rebelled against funding bills they’ve argued have bent to Democratic priorities.

“President Trump needs the most coverage of anyone,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Monday on Fox & Friends. “We are demanding in the House that he have every asset available, and we will make more available, if necessary.”

“I don’t think it’s a funding issue,” Johnson added.

Instead, the House GOP has focused its criticisms on DHS, slamming the agency for delaying the release of an inspector general report related to its failures ahead of and during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. If the report had been released earlier, Republicans have argued, it could have provided insight into Secret Service deficiencies before the assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pa.

Rep. Michael Lawler (R-N.Y.) is one of the few House Republicans who has publicly suggested that Secret Service might require more funding. Although he did not specify how much money might be required, he co-authored a bill with Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) that calls for the Secret Service to increase the number of agents protecting presidential candidates and allows for the appropriation of money “necessary to carry out” the change.

House Republicans face a key decision on Secret Service funding this month. In recent weeks, the White House Office of Management and Budget urged lawmakers to ensure the protective agency has enough money to secure National Special Security Events such as the presidential inauguration and protect Trump and Harris for the remainder of the election. Congress must approve a government funding bill by Oct. 1 to avert a government shutdown.

(c) 2024, The Washington Post · Maria Sacchetti, Jacqueline Alemany 

My brother died when I was ten. He had cancer, and I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t prevent his death, no matter how much I wished I could. But you, on the other hand, have the power to protect your child from an avoidable tragedy. There’s one simple step you can take to potentially save your child’s life: buckle their seatbelt. I know, some of you may be thinking, “This doesn’t apply to me” or “What’s the big deal?” But the reality is, I see too many children not buckled up when they should be. I understand that we can’t control everything, and as adults, we sometimes make poor decisions. We text and drive, we take risks. But children shouldn’t have to pay for the careless mistakes of their parents. Consider this: in 2023, a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that 30% of children aged 0-3 and 36% of children aged 8-12 who died in car crashes were not wearing seatbelts. These aren’t just numbers; they are young lives that could have been saved with a simple click of a seatbelt. Every time I see a child standing up in a car or sitting on a parent’s lap, I cringe. Just the other day, I was driving on the highway, and there was a woman with her toddler on her lap in the driver’s seat. One wrong move, and she could’ve lost her child, and possibly her own life, too. I’ve also seen children standing unbuckled in cars. One short stop and their lives could be cut tragically short. You might think I’m exaggerating, but the truth is, seatbelts save lives. For a few extra seconds, you can make sure your child is safely buckled in. It’s not just about obeying the law; it’s about valuing your child’s life. And what message are you sending them if you don’t bother? That their safety doesn’t matter? Hashem has given us the responsibility to protect our children. Not buckling them up is ignoring that responsibility. You wouldn’t let your child run into traffic or play with fire—so why leave them unbuckled in a moving vehicle? We are supposed to do our part—our hishtadlus—by taking practical steps to ensure safety, like buckling a seatbelt. We do our part, and then we trust in Hashem to protect us. This isn’t about judgment or pointing fingers. It’s about a heartfelt plea to parents: please buckle up your kids. I couldn’t save my brother, but you can save your child with something as simple as a seatbelt. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Signed, Anonymous The views expressed in this letter do not necessarily represent those of YWN. Have an opinion you would like to share? Send it to us for review. 

MK Moshe Gafni of United Torah Judaism, who heads the Knesset’s Finance Committee, addressed recent reports on Monday regarding efforts to expand the current government into a broader “unity” coalition.

During a meeting of the Committee, families of the hostages approached Gafni, urging him to exert maximum pressure on the Israeli government to broker a deal that would exchange prisoners for the release of the hostages.

“I identify with what you are saying,” Gafni assured them. “I am doing what I can.”

The families went a step further, insisting that Gafni take a firm stance by issuing an ultimatum: if a deal isn’t reached, both he and his family should refuse to continue participating in the coalition.

In response, Gafni remarked, “There was an offer for a unity government. But it was taken off the table.”

The representatives from the families pressed on, urging him to pursue further negotiations. “Continue with additional offers. Don’t stop. Ask yourself every day: What can I do to advance something?”

Gafni concluded by reiterating his commitment to the cause, stating, “I speak about this matter all the time, and my opinion is said everywhere. Including in closed rooms.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

Six employees of New York City’s public school system took their children or grandchildren on trips to Disney World, New Orleans and other locations using tickets that were meant for homeless students, investigators said in a newly released report. The trips intended as enrichment for students living in shelters and other temporary housing also included excursions to Washington, D.C., Boston and Broadway shows, said Anastasia Coleman, the special commissioner of investigation for New York City schools. According to the report released this month, Linda Wilson, the Queens regional manager for the office that supports students in temporary housing, took her own children on trips that were paid for through grants for homeless students and encouraged employees she supervised to do the same but to keep quiet about it. “What happens here stays with us,” one staffer quoted Wilson as saying. Contacted by the New York Post, Wilson denied bringing her two daughters on trips or encouraging staff members to bring their children. Wilson called the special commissioner’s probe “a witch hunt.” The investigation began after a whistleblower brought a complaint in March 2019. The special commissioner’s report, which concerned trips that took place between 2016 and 2019, was completed in January 2023 but only made public on Sept. 9. The special commissioner’s office said in an emailed statement that the report was not released because of the pending administrative actions. According to the report, Wilson forged permission slips to bring family members on trips and evaded city Department of Education oversight by using an outside agency to book travel arrangements. Some of the trips were intended as college tours, but the students and chaperones never actually visited the campuses, witnesses told the investigators. A group including Wilson and one of her daughters as well as other staff members and their children ate lunch at Syracuse University during a June 2018 trip but never toured the school, witnesses said. They left and went to Niagara Falls instead, according to the investigation. The special commissioner’s office recommended that Wilson and the other staff members faulted in the report be fired and that they be required to reimburse the school system for their family members’ trips. Wilson told the Post that she retired and was not fired. Department of Education spokesperson Jenna Lyle said in a statement, “All staff identified in this report are no longer employed by New York City Public Schools.” (AP)

The next generation of Buffetts — Howard, Susie and Peter — is poised to become one of the most powerful forces in philanthropy when their 94-year-old father, the legendary businessman and leader of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, eventually passes away. But it wasn’t always going to be that way. Buffett announced in June that he would donate his fortune, now valued at nearly $144 billion, to a charitable trust managed by his three children when he dies, instead of giving it to the Gates Foundation, as he indicated 18 years ago. The next generation of Buffetts will then have 10 years to give the money away, Warren Buffett said. In the meantime, the elder Buffett continues to make huge annual donations to the Gates Foundation and his four family foundations, which will continue throughout his lifetime. He first mentioned plans for a new charitable trust in November. Howard Buffett told The Associated Press he’s learned what his father told him and his siblings about philanthropy was true: “It’s not so easy to give away money if you want to do it smart, if you want to be intelligent about it.” The middle Buffett child, Howard said his father is as sharp as ever and that he hopes he lives a long time, adding: “It’s pretty amazing that he’s giving us this opportunity.” Buffett has entrusted Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates with significant annual gifts to their foundation since 2006 — a remarkable $43 billion to date . “Wealthy people don’t tend to give their money to other people to give away,” said James Ferris, founding director of The Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy at the University of Southern California. But many of the wealthiest people are also hesitant to hand over their fortunes to the next generation over concerns that it hampers their ingenuity, he said. Ferris thinks the story of Buffett’s changing philanthropic intentions is a positive one. “It shows how a donor is making choices and is adapting to circumstances,” he said. The Gates Foundation did not say when it learned of Buffett’s decision or what the impact will be on its budget. It previously said in a statement that “Warren Buffett has been exceedingly generous,” and that he has “played an invaluable role in championing and shaping the foundation’s work to create a world where every person can live a healthy, productive life.” Over the years, Buffett gave the Gates Foundation large annual donations, but also donated billions to foundations run by his three children and a fourth family foundation. Their work offers some insight into the priorities of the next generation of Buffetts. The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after Warren Buffett’s first wife, is the largest in terms of donations. It supports organizations that provide reproductive health care and access to contraception and abortion around the world. Susie Buffett, 71, is its board chair and Peter Buffett, 66, is a board member. Susie Buffett also leads The Sherwood Foundation, a major supporter of early childhood development nationally that gives grants to organizations and projects within Omaha, Nebraska, the Buffetts’ hometown. Peter Buffett’s NoVo Foundation has been an important funder of organizations advocating for the autonomy of girls and women and against gender-based violence. In 2020, Peter and his wife, Jennifer, decided to reorient […]

Elon Musk has deleted a post on his social media platform X in which he said “no one is even trying to assassinate” President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the wake of an apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump while he was playing golf. Musk, who has nearly 200 million followers on the social media site he bought for $44 billion in 2022, has increasingly embraced conservative ideologies in recent years and endorsed Trump for president. While he has removed posts in the past, Musk has also kept up and even doubled down on other such inflammatory comments. Last week, he made a joke about impregnating Taylor Swift after the singer posted an endorsement for Harris. Early Monday, after taking down the post about the apparent Trump assassination, the 53-year-old billionaire wrote on the platform: “Well, one lesson I’ve learned is that just because I say something to a group and they laugh doesn’t mean it’s going to be all that hilarious as a post on X.” The original post was in response to DogeDesigner, one of the 700 accounts that Musk follows, who asked: “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?” Musk’s reply was quickly condemned by many X users, and “DeportElonMusk” began trending on X on Monday morning. “Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about,” said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates in response to Musk’s post. “This rhetoric is irresponsible.” The Tesla CEO has previously posted conspiracy theories and feuded with world leaders and politicians. X is currently banned in Brazil amid a dustup between Musk and a Brazilian Supreme Court judge over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. He’s also received criticism in the past for what critics said were posts encouraging violence. Last month, for instance, the British government called on Musk to act responsibly after he used X to unleash a barrage of posts that officials said risked inflaming violent unrest gripping the country. Musk said when he bought the platform then known as Twitter that protecting free speech — not money — was his motivation because, as he put it, “having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.” Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute, noted that Musk has long been trying to “push the boundaries of free speech, in part by engaging in impulsive, unfiltered comments on a range of political topics.” (AP)

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has stated that his organization is ready for an extended conflict with Israel. He conveyed this message to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are supported by Iran, as the Gaza war nears its one-year mark.

“We have prepared ourselves to fight a long war of attrition that will break the enemy’s political will,” Sinwar said. He expressed confidence that Hamas, along with Iran-backed groups in Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen, would ultimately defeat Israel.

In his communication to Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Huthi, Sinwar added: “I congratulate you on your success in sending your missiles deep into the enemy entity, bypassing all layers and defense and interception systems.”

He emphasized the shared objectives of Hamas and their allies in the region, stating: “Our combined efforts with you” and with groups in Lebanon and Iraq “will break this enemy and inflict defeat on it.”

{Matzav.com}