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Sen. Rand Paul made clear Sunday that Vice President JD Vance would not have his support if the Republican presidential field takes shape in 2028.

Pressed directly during an appearance on This Week about whether that stance applied to Vance, Paul gave an unambiguous reply. Asked by host Jonathan Karl, “And that’s not JD Vance?” Paul answered simply, “No.”

Paul’s remarks came as he reflected on what he sees as a shrinking commitment within the GOP to long-standing conservative economic principles. He said he intends to keep pushing for a free-market faction inside the party, even as others move in a different direction. “So I’m going to continue to try to lead a conservative free-market wing in the party, and we’ll see where things lead over time,” Paul said.

During the interview, Paul pointed to his ongoing disagreement with the Trump administration’s tariff and trade agenda as a central reason for his resistance to elevating Vance as a future standard-bearer. He argued that free trade, limited government, and low taxes have been pushed aside in recent years. “I think there needs to be representatives in the Republican Party who still believe international trade is good, who still believe in free market capitalism, who still believe in low taxes,” Paul said, responding to suggestions that Vance is widely viewed as a leading contender for the next election cycle.

The Kentucky senator also contrasted today’s policy debates with earlier ideological divides, saying fiscal restraint once defined conservative thinking. “It used to separate conservatives and liberals that conservatives thought it was a spending problem — we didn’t want less revenue, we wanted less spending,” Paul said.

He went on to criticize Republicans who now champion tariffs, arguing that such policies amount to tax increases that run counter to conservative doctrine. “But now all these pro-tariff protectionists, they love taxes. And so they tax, tax, tax, and then they brag about all the revenue coming in,” Paul continued. “That has never been a conservative position.”

While many Republicans still voice support for smaller government and lower taxes, Paul has been among the few willing to openly challenge the president on trade policy and oppose major legislation on fiscal grounds. He voted against the administration’s flagship domestic package, citing concerns that it would add to the national debt, and said those disagreements would shape his approach to the party’s future leadership.

{Matzav.com}

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese moved Monday to address mounting anger within the Jewish community, issuing a public apology following intense criticism over his handling of rising antisemitism in the country.

The apology came a day after Albanese was met with loud boos while attending a vigil commemorating the 15 people murdered in the Bondi Beach terrorist attack, carried out during a Jewish Hanukkah celebration. The hostile reaction reflected deep frustration among mourners who say the government failed to stem escalating antisemitic violence.

Speaking after the event, Albanese acknowledged the fury directed at him and said he understood why emotions boiled over. “Emotions were raw, and a lot of people in the community are hurting and angry, and some of that anger was directed towards me, and I understand that,” he said.

He went on to connect the tragedy directly to his leadership, stating, “As prime minister, I feel the weight of responsibility for an atrocity that happened while I’m prime minister.”

In a separate expression of regret, Albanese added, “And I’m sorry for what the Jewish community and our nation as a whole has experienced.”

The prime minister has been under heavy fire since last week’s massacre, with critics accusing his center-left government of allowing antisemitism to spiral since the outbreak of the war in Gaza. Jewish leaders and community figures have argued that repeated warnings were ignored.

In response to the attack, Albanese announced the launch of a formal review into Australia’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The inquiry will be led by a former head of the country’s national spy service and will examine whether federal police and intelligence bodies have the “right powers, structures, processes and sharing arrangements in place to keep Australians safe.”

Despite the announcement, Jewish leaders have pushed for a full royal commission — the strongest form of inquiry under Australian law — to probe the failures surrounding the attack.

Albanese rejected that approach, arguing that a targeted review would allow the government to act more quickly. “The … review will enable action to take place,” he said.

He emphasized that the goal was immediate accountability and reform, adding, “What we want to do is, if there are any holes, any findings, any actions that are required, we want that to occur.”

{Matzav.com}

Most Americans aren’t making end-of-year charitable giving plans, according to the results of a new AP-NORC poll, despite the many fundraising appeals made by nonprofits that rely on donation surges in the calendar’s final month to reach budget targets. The survey, which was conducted in early December by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, […]

Prime Minister Netanyahu met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis today in Jerusalem.

The Trump administration is recalling 48 U.S. ambassadors from diplomatic posts in multiple countries, according to U.S. officials. A senior State Department official said the move is a routine step taken by administrations, with ambassadors expected to support and carry out the administration’s policies. The countries affected include Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, and […]

The holiday travel rush is underway, with TSA predicting record-breaking crowds of nearly 3 million travelers at airports nationwide.

Sec. Kristi Noem announces DHS will give illegal migrants a $3,000 holiday stipend if they self-deport by December 31.

Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Russian General Staff’s training department, was killed early Monday morning after an improvised explosive device (IED) attached to his car detonated in southern Moscow, Russian investigators said. Authorities said the investigation is examining a possible Ukrainian connection.

Kerry Kennedy escalated her criticism of President Donald Trump, publicly calling for his name to be removed from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts once he leaves office. In posts shared on X and Instagram, Kennedy pledged dramatic action to reverse the decision.

“Three years and one month from today, I’m going to grab a pickax and pull those letters of that building,” she wrote.

She followed up with another post inviting supporters to join her effort, adding, “But I’m going to need help holding the ladder. Are you in? Apply for my carpenter’s card today, so it’ll be a union job!!!.”

The naming decision has drawn sharp criticism from several Democrats and members of the Kennedy family. Among those objecting was JFK’s niece Maria Shriver, along with multiple Democratic lawmakers, all of whom argue that placing Trump’s name on the building violates federal law.

“The Kennedy Center was named by law. To change the name would require a revision of that 1964 law,” Ray Smock, a former House historian, told the Associated Press. “The Kennedy Center board is not a lawmaking entity. Congress makes laws.”

Congress designated the performing arts complex as a living memorial to President Kennedy in 1964, a year after his assassination. The statute explicitly bars the board of trustees from transforming the center into a memorial for anyone else or placing another individual’s name on the exterior of the building.

Despite those objections, Trump’s name was added after the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees — reportedly selected by Trump — voted unanimously in favor of the change. Officials at the Kennedy Center said the vote was intended to acknowledge Trump’s efforts to revitalize the institution.

Kennedy expanded her attack a day earlier with a separate post on X sharply criticizing Trump and his administration. She wrote: “President Trump and his administration have spent the past year repressing free expression, targeting artists, journalists, and comedians, and erasing the history of Americans whose contributions made our nation better and more just.”

She contrasted that record with the legacy of her uncle, writing: “President Kennedy proudly stood for justice, peace, equality, dignity, diversity, and compassion for those who suffer. President Trump stands in opposition to these values, and his name should not be placed alongside President Kennedy’s.”

Kerry Kennedy is the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, who served as a U.S. senator and attorney general. Her brother, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., currently serves as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration and has not commented publicly on the controversy surrounding the Kennedy Center’s name.

{Matzav.com}

Ukraine’s military intelligence (GUR) claims it sabotaged a Russian airbase near Lipetsk, disabling two fighter jets, an Su-30 and an Su-27, by setting them on fire inside a hangar.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Damascus, along with a delegation that included Defense Minister Yasar Guler and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin.

The IDF has released footage of one of the two separate drone strikes yesterday in the southern Lebanon town of Yater, targeting Hezbollah terrorists. According to the IDF, one strike killed a Hezbollah terrorist involved in restoring the group’s infrastructure. Lebanese authorities report the second strike wounded one person.

SPEAKER JOHNSON: If we lose the House majority, the radical left will impeach President Trump.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps conducted a series of ballistic missile tests across multiple locations in Iran today, including Mashhad, Khorramabad, Kermanshah, Mahabad, Isfahan, Shiraz, and Tehran. Iran’s Fars News Agency confirmed that the launches are part of a large-scale missile exercise. Israeli officials have warned their U.S. counterparts that Tehran could use the drills […]

SCARY SIGHT: Two men were left dangling at the peak of a 130-foot drop after a roller coaster malfunctioned in Texas, suspended at a terrifying 90-degree angle facing straight toward the ground. A frantic relative called 911 as the riders hung there for nearly an hour before they were safely brought down.

At least five people were injured after a four-alarm fire tore through a home on Humboldt Street in Brooklyn early Monday morning. Fire officials say the blaze erupted around 2 a.m. on the first floor and escalated to four alarms within an hour. Nearly 200 FDNY firefighters and EMS personnel responded. Two civilians were transported […]

The Venezuelan military has begun distributing rifles to civilians in working-class neighborhoods The official purpose is to organize local militias capable of “forming an armed resistance in the event of a foreign invasion.”

A growing trend in recent years of placing handwritten notes with personal requests inside or beneath the Chanukah menorah—particularly on Zos Chanukah—is coming under sharp criticism from rabbinic figures, who say the practice has no source, no tradition, and no basis in Torah.

The practice, widely circulated each year on social media and various websites, claims that one should write a note beginning with the verse “Min hameitzar karasi Kah, anani bamerchav Kah,” add one’s name and mother’s name, list personal requests, and then place the note in the menorah after the candles go out. According to the claim, the note is left there until the following Chanukah, when it is opened to see whether the requests were fulfilled.

Rabbinic authorities say the so-called segulah is entirely fabricated.

Rav Chaim Fuchs, head of the Segulas Emes Institute, addressed the phenomenon this week, calling the practice “nonsensical” and stressing that it has no connection to authentic Jewish tradition. He said the idea was invented only in recent years and falsely presented as a spiritual tool. “If a person asks Hashem sincerely, Hashem can answer,” he said, emphasizing that the power lies in tefillah itself, not in placing slips of paper in ritual objects.

Concerns have grown as variations of the practice have emerged, including suggestions to place notes in Pesach utensils after the Yom Tov or even inside the oil cups of the menorah from night to night. Rabbinic figures warn that such trends risk shifting people’s faith away from tefillah and toward superstition, creating the impression that salvation comes from a mechanical act rather than a relationship with Hashem.

Years ago, Rav Reuven Zakaim, head of the Zichron Yaakov Beis Medrash for Halachah and Dayanus, wrote a detailed critique of the practice. He said he researched the matter extensively and found no mention of such a segulah in any authoritative sefer, nor any record of it being taught or endorsed by recognized Torah leaders. “It is entirely new,” he wrote, adding that it was unheard of throughout Jewish history, even dating back to the miracle of the oil itself.

Rav Zakaim acknowledged that while there may not be a formal halachic prohibition against placing a note in a menorah, the practice should not be attributed any spiritual significance. He warned against confusing the essentials of avodas Hashem with practices that lack any authentic source. He cited the irony noted by earlier gedolim that if mitzvos themselves were written up as segulos, people might be more meticulous in observing them.

The issue was also addressed this past week by writer Reb Dovid Daman in the Hebrew Mishpacha magazine. He expressed sympathy for those who followed the practice last year and were left disappointed when their hopes were not realized. Rather than doubling down on an invented ritual, he urged readers to replace it with meaningful tefillah, suggesting the recitation of the entire Sefer Tehillim on Zos Chanukah.

“I don’t promise salvations,” he wrote. “By Hashem, no one stands with a stopwatch. But Tehillim—especially the full sefer recited without interruption—is always a powerful and holy segulah. Tefillos do not return empty.”

Daman said the trend highlights how quickly unfounded practices can spread, especially among people searching desperately for yeshuah. He recounted being offered yet another “new segulah” this year involving placing a request note inside a cup of oil, calling it further proof that such ideas proliferate without restraint.

{Matzav.com}