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Overnight Sunday, 18 of the 20 hostages who returned to Israel on Hoshanah Rabba were treated to a three-hour private outing at the Ayalon Mall in Ramat Gan, which was closed especially for them, Mako reported. At 10:00 p.m., selected store owners were notified that they would need to remain open while all regular customers were cleared from the premises. Employees were asked to hand over their cell phones, and the 18 freed hostages and their family members entered for a private, camera-free visit. “They came out of captivity thin and frail,” a source said. “They don’t have clothes or shoes that fit them.” The mall closed to the public around 9:30 or 10, and then they were brought in privately. The mall’s management gave them vouchers to shop for essentials at Fox, H&M, Foot Locker, and Renuar. H&M, Story, Opticana, and Foot Locker also opened for the hostages. Let’s just say all those chains will need to restock now,” he joked. “All the workers and others who were there were required to keep everything confidential,” he added. “The whole visit was kept under the radar to respect their privacy and avoid any commotion. They really need their peace right now—to start doing normal things again, spend time with family, go shopping, and return to life.” (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

Roughly half of the hostages freed and returned to Israel last week met Tuesday morning in Tel Aviv with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and senior White House adviser Jared Kushner. Among those who took part in the meeting were Omri Miran, Gal Berman, Ziv Berman, Yosef Chaim Ohana, Matan Angrest, Bar Kuperstein, Segev Kalfon, Nimrod Cohen, and Eitan Horn — all recently discharged from the hospital after their return from Gaza. Each of the released hostages speaks privately with Witkoff, some handing him gifts to show their appreciation for helping bring about their release, others hugging him tight.

Newly uncovered documents from Gaza show that Hamas has been directly influencing the Qatari state-run network Al Jazeera’s coverage of events in Gaza, according to findings by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. The research center says Hamas’s media operatives coordinated with Al Jazeera editors to ensure coverage aligned with the terror group’s narrative and avoided any language that could “harm the image of the resistance.” One 2022 document revealed that Hamas ordered Al Jazeera to avoid calling a deadly Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket explosion in Jabalya a “massacre,” since the blast was not caused by “the occupation.” The center reports that Al Jazeera’s newsroom management “positively responded” to the directive. Another document reportedly detailed Hamas’s effort to set up a secure communication channel between its headquarters and Al Jazeera’s offices in Doha, enabling direct coordination during “emergency situations.” This system would allow Hamas’s military wing to issue real-time instructions on what stories to promote or suppress. The intelligence center described the findings as rare and concrete proof of “systemic coordination” between a global media outlet and a designated terrorist organization. Al Jazeera’s coverage has long echoed Hamas’s terminology — regularly referring to Hamas fighters as mujahideen (resistance fighters), and calling them shaheeds (martyrs) after their deaths. According to the report, Al Jazeera journalists were also given exclusive access to Hamas’s vast underground tunnel system, further underscoring the close relationship between the network and the terror group. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Officials in Washington are reportedly concerned that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu may end the Gaza ceasefire and resume military operations against Hamas, according to a New York Times report. The report, citing several unnamed U.S. officials, says there is growing anxiety within the Biden administration that Netanyahu could move to undermine the truce agreement. Top American figures — including Vice President JD Vance, along with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — are expected to press Israeli leaders not to jeopardize the accord during upcoming meetings in Israel, the report adds. In addition, discussions are reportedly underway with Turkey about dispatching a specialized team trained in body recovery to assist in locating the remains of hostages still missing in Gaza. Hamas has claimed it is struggling to find the bodies of the 15 hostages believed to remain in the Strip. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A court in Slovakia on Tuesday convicted the man in last year’s attempted assassination of the country’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico of a terror attack and sentenced him to 21 years in prison. The shooting and the trial have shaken this small, European Union and NATO-member country where Fico has long been a divisive figure, criticized for straying from Slovakia’s pro-Western path and aligning it closer to Russia. Juraj Cintula opened fire on Fico on May 15, 2024, as the prime minister greeted supporters following a government meeting in the town of Handlová, about 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital of Bratislava. Cintula, 72, was arrested immediately after the attack and ordered to remain behind bars. When questioned by investigators, he rejected the accusation of being a “terrorist.” Fico was shot in the abdomen and was taken from Handlová to a hospital in nearby city of Banská Bystrica. He underwent a five-hour surgery, followed by another two-hour surgery two days later. He has since recovered. Cintula has claimed his motive for the shooting was that he disagreed with government policies. He refused to testify before the Specialized Criminal Court in Banská Bystrica. but confirmed that what he had told investigators about his motive remains true. “The defendant did not attack a citizen, but specifically the prime minister,” Igor Králik, the head of the three-judge panel, said in delivering the verdict. “He was against the government, he was inciting people to overthrow the government.” The verdict of the panel was unanimous. The court said that Cintula’s age and the fact that he had no criminal record contributed to why he did not receive life imprisonment. “It is unjust,” Cintula kept saying in Slovak as he was leaving the courtroom. In his testimony read by a prosecutor at the trial, Cintula said he disagreed with Fico’s policies, including the cancellation of a special prosecution office dealing with corruption, the end of military help for Ukraine and the government’s approach to culture. “I decided to harm the health of the prime minister but I had no intention to kill anyone,” he said in the testimony. He also said he was relieved when he learned the premier survived. Cintula’s attorney Namir Alyasry told reporters his client would very likely appeal the verdict. He was originally charged with attempted murder but prosecutors later dropped that charge and said they were instead pursuing the more serious charge of engaging in a terror attack. They said it was based on evidence the investigators obtained but gave no further details. Government officials initially said they believed it was a politically motivated attack committed by a “lone wolf,” but announced later that a third party might have been involved in “acting for the benefit of the perpetrator.” Fico previously said he “had no reason to believe” it was an attack by a lone deranged person and repeatedly blamed the liberal opposition and media for the assassination attempt. There is no evidence for that. The prime minister was not present at the trial and did not immediately comment on the verdict. Fico had previously said he felt “no hatred” towards his attacker, forgave him and planned no legal action against him. Fico returned to power for the fourth time after his leftist Smer, or Direction, party won […]

Thousands of mispallelim entered Kever Yosef in Shechem overnight, ahead of Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, in a large and organized visit coordinated with IDF forces. Among those present were the Kaliver Rebbe, MK Michal Woldiger, MK Tzvi Sukkot, and Shomron Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, who urged the government to “learn from the strength of Yosef HaTzaddik – and apply full sovereignty over Yehuda and Shomron.” The visit took place under heavy IDF protection, with assistance from volunteers with the Kever Yosef and Holy Sites Administration. The mispallelim spent several hours at the site davening and reciting Tehillim. Those attending included the Kaliver Rebbe, Rabbi Noam Waldman (Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Nir in Kiryat Arba), IDF Shomron Brigade Commander Col. Ariel Gonen, and others. The crowd sang “Acheinu Kol Beis Yisroel,” recited tefillos for the safety of IDF soldiers, and joined the Kaliver Rebbe in saying “Shema Yisrael.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

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Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin lashed out at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday evening after Netanyahu publicly referred to Supreme Court Justice Yitzchak Amit as the president of the Supreme Court.

Following Netanyahu’s remarks from the Knesset podium, Levin reportedly confronted him, saying, “Amit is not the president of the Supreme Court. It’s not right that you recognized him,” according to Channel 12’s Amit Segal.

Sources close to Levin told Kan News that the minister’s office shared similar criticism, stating, “We haven’t heard that he was chosen as president.”

A senior Likud official said that Netanyahu had thus far refrained from recognizing Amit as the Supreme Court president but decided to do so tonight because of the uproar in the Knesset plenum after Speaker Amir Ochana refused to acknowledge him. The move was made despite the opposition of Levin and several other ministers.

During his address marking the opening of the Knesset’s winter session, Netanyahu turned to President Yitzchak Herzog and said, “Yitzhak Amit is the president of the Supreme Court, that’s a fact. But I said and added — I am the prime minister of Israel, these are the ministers of Israel’s government. That’s a fact. These facts must be recognized from all sides, not just one.”

The dispute erupted after Knesset Speaker Amir Ochana referred to Amit merely as a “Supreme Court judge,” prompting angry reactions from opposition MKs, several of whom were removed from the chamber. President Herzog deviated from his prepared remarks to pointedly call Amit “the president of the Supreme Court,” responding to Ochana, “I will not accept a lack of basic respect.”

{Matzav.com}

All meetings in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee regarding the proposed Draft Law were abruptly called off Monday evening, as disputes and delays over the bill’s formulation intensified friction between the government and chareidi lawmakers.

In the wake of the cancellations, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called an urgent meeting with the committee’s chairman, MK Boaz Bismuth, summoning him to his office for immediate discussions.

The postponement stems from the legal department’s inability to complete the bill’s language on schedule, pushing the timeline for its presentation even further. Bismuth had anticipated that the draft would be ready by Tuesday, but legal advisors informed him that additional time was necessary to finalize the text.

Tension between Netanyahu and the chareidi parties has risen sharply since his remarks at the opening of the Knesset’s winter session, when he declared, “We will recruit 10,000 yeshiva students over two years.” The comment drew a fierce reaction from Torah representatives who viewed it as deeply insensitive and tone-deaf.

MK Moshe Gafni, head of the Degel HaTorah faction, blasted the Prime Minister’s wording, exclaiming, “How can he say ‘we’ll recruit yeshiva students’? We don’t recruit yeshiva students – we recruit chareidim.” Following the uproar, Netanyahu returned to the podium to clarify that his intention had been to refer broadly to the enlistment of “chareidim,” not yeshiva bochurim specifically.

A statement issued later by Bismuth’s office emphasized that his meeting with Netanyahu had been arranged in advance and covered several matters on the committee’s agenda — among them, the Draft Law.

Bismuth reportedly plans to bring the legislation before the committee at its next meeting, in keeping with requests from chareidi MKs, in the hope of moving the process forward more efficiently and with greater sensitivity to the Torah community’s concerns.

{Matzav.com}

British soldiers will soon be permitted to shoot down drones threatening military bases under a new measure Defense Secretary John Healey plans to introduce today in response to rising Russian threats. Until now, troops were limited to detecting and jamming drones but not engaging them. The policy will first apply to military sites and may later extend to airports and other critical locations.

A wave of major financial contributions from New York’s business elite has surged into newly created super PACs determined to derail Zohran Mamdani’s campaign for mayor. In the past several days alone, over $3 million has been funneled into these committees, according to the latest financial disclosures, as anxiety grows among the city’s power brokers over the possibility of a democratic socialist taking control of City Hall.

The massive last-minute infusion comes just as the Democratic frontrunner continues to lead decisively, with polling showing Mamdani maintaining a comfortable double-digit advantage over independent contender Andrew Cuomo. The timing of the cash dump, only days before early voting begins on November 4, highlights the growing desperation among business interests to stop Mamdani’s rise before it’s too late.

For many corporate leaders, Mamdani’s platform represents a direct threat to their financial interests. He has repeatedly pledged to raise taxes on the wealthy and on large corporations to pay for sweeping social programs — including universal free child care and expanded housing affordability measures. Those proposals have left Wall Street and real estate circles deeply uneasy.

Financial records reveal that the men behind the sudden burst of spending — Eminence Capital founder Ricky Sandler, real estate investor Richard Mack, and developer Marty Berger — transferred a total of $3.26 million into three new PACs through a shared corporate vehicle known as Put NYC First Inc.

The bulk of the money, roughly $2 million, was wired Friday to a super PAC called For Our City. Over the weekend, that PAC reportedly spent $1.5 million on a new “media buy,” which sources suggest will fund a wave of negative ads against Mamdani. Details about the ads have not yet been disclosed.

Neither the treasurer of For Our City nor any of the three donors immediately responded to requests for comment. The same trio’s entity, Put NYC First, also directed just over $1 million toward another new group called Stop the Socialists, though no spending by that PAC had been reported as of Monday morning.

Earlier this month, the businessmen’s consortium made a smaller contribution — nearly $255,000 — to a third PAC named Good Growth NYC. That group has already used $200,000 for on-the-ground canvassing in support of Cuomo and another $13,000 on campaign literature boosting his candidacy, according to recent filings.

Cuomo’s campaign, which by law is barred from coordinating with any of the independent PACs supporting him, declined to comment on the outside spending activity.

Mamdani’s campaign, meanwhile, dismissed the onslaught of billionaire-funded opposition as meaningless. “Another day, another ineffective billionaire-backed PAC that won’t make a dent in the movement Zohran Mamdani is building to make New York City more affordable,” said campaign spokeswoman Dora Pekec.

Unlike traditional campaign committees, super PACs face no limits on how much money they can raise or spend, giving them immense power to flood the airwaves and influence voters. This year’s mayoral race has shattered records for outside spending, with wealthy donors pouring tens of millions of dollars into efforts — most aimed squarely at derailing Mamdani’s bid.

Before this latest round of contributions, the Sandler-Mack-Berger network had already given $750,000 to other political committees, including $250,000 to New Yorkers for a Better Future Mayor 25, a group aligned with Cuomo’s campaign. That PAC, in turn, is coordinating with Fix the City — the largest pro-Cuomo, anti-Mamdani operation in the race.

Fix the City, which also supported Cuomo’s losing effort against Mamdani in the Democratic primary, has already pulled in more than $30 million in total funding. Its recent backers include Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, who added a $1 million donation just last week.

Despite the massive sums being spent, polls suggest the deluge of outside money has done little to sway voters. Surveys continue to show Mamdani maintaining a commanding lead over Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, who trails far behind. A new poll released Monday did indicate, however, that Cuomo could pose a greater challenge to Mamdani if Sliwa were to bow out of the race.

{Matzav.com}

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney declared that he would enforce the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, stating that Netanyahu would be detained if he entered Canadian territory.

When pressed in an interview on Bloomberg Podcasts about whether his government would actually apprehend Netanyahu, Carney gave a clear and unhesitating answer: “yes.” He declined to provide further explanation or details about how such an arrest would be carried out.

Carney also emphasized that one of his central foreign policy goals had been to recognize a Palestinian state, but he insisted that this recognition was merely a step toward a broader objective.

“The end is a free and viable Palestinian state living side by side, peace and security, the State of Israel,” he said.

Carney noted that Canada has officially supported the two-state framework since 1947 but claimed his government chose this moment to move forward with recognition because “the actions of Netanyahu’s government were explicitly designed to end any possibility of a Palestinian state in violation of the UN Charter and going against Canadian government policy of any political stripe since 1947.”

He further explained that the decision was not symbolic or intended to create immediate results but rather a necessary response to prevent the total collapse of prospects for peace. “We did this because the prospect was receding as opposed to viewing it as any sort of panacea, game changer, fundamentally immediately leading to the outcome that we and others want,” he said.

Addressing criticism from Washington, Carney acknowledged American disapproval of similar moves by other nations but argued that all sides ultimately sought the same outcome. “Common objective is the same,” he maintained.

Responding to Carney’s remarks, Netanyahu’s political advisor Ophir Falk strongly rebuked the Canadian leader in comments to The Globe and Mail on Saturday. Falk said he “had hoped that after Canada endorsed [US] President Trump’s Middle East 20-Point Peace Plan [for Gaza], Prime Minister Carney would retract his policy of appeasing terrorism and betraying Canada’s traditional ally.”

Falk urged Carney to instead “welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu, the leader of the lone Jewish state and only democracy in the Middle East, to Canada.”

Both Netanyahu and Israel’s former defense minister Yoav Gallant are facing ICC charges accusing them of “criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the war against Hamas in Gaza.

{Matzav.com}

The national average price of gasoline has dropped below $3.00 per gallon for the first time since 2020, according to GasBuddy. 35 states now have average prices under $2.99/gal — and one station in Evans, Colorado is already offering $1.99 cash prices, with Oklahoma and Texas stations close behind.

A new report by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) warns that antisemitism has surged to alarming levels worldwide since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, with more than 13,000 incidents recorded globally over the past two years — the highest in recent memory. The findings, released by CAM’s Antisemitism Research Center (ARC), show a sharp and sustained rise: 1,785 incidents were reported in the final three months of 2023 alone, nearly matching the total for all of 2022. That number more than tripled in 2024, to 6,326 incidents, and another 5,118 cases have already been documented in the first nine months of 2025. The data underscores what CAM officials call “a historic and dangerous normalization of antisemitism” worldwide — a trend that formed the backdrop to this week’s Latin America Summit Against Antisemitism in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The fifth annual summit, hosted in partnership with the City of Rio, the Brazilian Jewish Confederation (CONIB), and the Jewish Federation of Rio (FIERJ), brought together roughly 1,000 leaders from 18 countries, including lawmakers, mayors, and faith representatives. Despite tense diplomatic relations between Israel and Brazil — President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza and blocked the appointment of a new Israeli ambassador — the conference proceeded as planned, signaling what organizers described as “a united stand against hate.” During the summit, participants signed a joint declaration calling on Latin American governments to adopt stronger anti-hate laws and policies in response to what they described as “the worst wave of antisemitism since the Holocaust.” The declaration also expressed solidarity with Israel and demanded accountability from Iran for “global terrorist activities,” citing its proxies Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. The gathering also saw the launch of a new regional body, Latin American Legislators Against Antisemitism, to coordinate parliamentary efforts across the continent. “October 7th cannot be forgotten,” said Shay Salamon, CAM’s Director of Hispanic Affairs. “Even as we celebrate the release of hostages, antisemitism won’t disappear when the war ends. It must be fought with education, empathy, and joint action.” Salamon noted the symbolism of hosting the event in Rio — the first city in the world to adopt the IHRA working definition of antisemitism and to designate October 7 as Antisemitism Awareness Day. But he also acknowledged Brazil’s worsening climate for Jews, citing a marked increase in antisemitic rhetoric and violence over the past year. CAM CEO Sacha Roytman said the movement’s work in Latin America — including partnerships in Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, and Mexico — has made tangible progress but remains an uphill battle. “Antisemitism is a daily, ongoing fight,” Roytman said. “Jewish communities lost their sense of safety on October 7, and we are determined to help restore it.” Uruguayan Senator Javier García, a former defense minister, told the summit that antisemitism “is not just a Jewish issue — it’s an issue for all of us.” He urged non-Jewish leaders to take ownership of the fight, warning that “hatred against one faith is a threat to every democracy.” The Rio summit closed with a call for “unity, courage, and action” — and, as one delegate put it, a reminder that “the fight against antisemitism must never again be left to the Jews alone.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

On Monday night, Hamas transferred to Israel the body of hostage Tal Haimi, bringing a painful chapter closer to closure. Haimi, 41, was killed while courageously defending Kibbutz Nir Yitzchak on October 7, 2023, when terrorists invaded the community. His body was taken into Gaza that day.

Haimi served on the kibbutz’s emergency response team and joined his comrades in fierce combat at the entrance of Nir Yitzchak, holding back the terrorists until he was fatally shot. Initially listed as missing, investigators later determined that he had likely been taken into Gaza. In December 2023, intelligence confirmed his death, and though his family held a funeral, they continued to wait for his remains.

Late Monday, Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that the body had been returned. The casket was taken to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification.

“The Government of Israel shares in the profound grief of the Haimi family and of all the families of the fallen hostages,” the PMO said.

Haimi leaves behind his wife, Ela, and four children — Nir, Einav, Udi, and Lotan, the youngest of whom was born in May 2024, seven months after his father’s death.

“Tal was brought home after 745 days,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement. “Tal loved taking his family on nature trips and camping in the outdoors, was an enthusiastic tools hobbyist, and always knew how to find a solution to any problem that arose.

“On the morning of October 7, he went out to fight against dozens of terrorists in a battle at the gate of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. Tal and the rest of the quick-response team fought with extraordinary bravery for several hours, and during the battle, Tal fell and was abducted into Gaza.”

Hamas delivered the casket on Monday evening, claiming it had located the body a day earlier. The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed faction of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, later said that it had been holding the remains.

The Red Cross received the casket from Hamas and passed it on to the Israel Defense Forces. Inside Gaza, IDF personnel verified the contents, covered the coffin with an Israeli flag, and held a brief ceremony led by a military rabbi. From there, the casket was taken out of Gaza under police escort to Abu Kabir.

A day before the handover, Hamas had announced it had discovered the remains of a hostage and would return them “if the field conditions are suitable.” That declaration came amid renewed tensions, after a deadly attack in southern Gaza prompted Israeli airstrikes. No transfer occurred that day.

With Haimi’s return, 15 bodies of Israeli hostages are still believed to be held in Gaza, while 13 have been recovered and brought back. Israel accuses Hamas of deliberately withholding some of the bodies, whereas the terror group claims that destruction from the war has made locating them impossible.

Under the current ceasefire arrangement, Hamas freed the final 20 living hostages on October 13, within three days of Israel’s withdrawal to the so-called Yellow Line, as stipulated in the agreement.

{Matzav.com}

Police arrested a man at Atlanta’s bustling airport on Monday after getting a tip from his family that he was planning to shoot up the place, and found an assault rifle and ammunition in his truck outside, the city’s police chief said. Billy Joe Cagle, of Cartersville, Georgia, had described his plan to shoot up the world’s busiest airport on a social media livestream, Chief Darin Schierbaum said during a news conference. “The Cartersville Police Department was alerted by the family of Mr. Cagle that he was streaming on social media that he was headed to the Atlanta airport, in their words, to ‘shoot it up,’ and the family stated that he was in possession of an assault rifle,” Schierbaum said, describing Cagle as a “convicted felon.” Cagle, 49, arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in a Chevrolet pickup truck that was parked right outside the doors to the airport terminal. When police went to the vehicle, they found an AR-15 with 27 rounds of ammunition, Schierbaum said. “We’re here today briefing you on a success and not a tragedy because a family saw something and said something,” the chief said. Cartersville police Capt. Greg Sparacio, whose department received the initial tip from family members, said Cagle “had the intention to inflict harm to as many people as he could.” During the news conference, police showed surveillance video that shows Cagle arriving at the airport and body-camera video of his arrest. A Chevrolet flatbed pickup truck is seen arriving curbside at the airport terminal around 9:30 a.m. and then a man police identified as Cagle is seen entering the airport a few minutes later. He walks over to the TSA security checkpoint and had “high interest in that area,” Schierbaum said. Body-camera footage shows Atlanta police officers, who had a photo of Cagle provided by his family on their phones, approach him and start asking him questions before taking him into custody. As they take him to the ground and put handcuffs on him, Cagle can be heard yelling. Cagle has been charged with making terroristic threats, criminal attempt to commit aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a felon, Schierbaum said. Cagle was booked into the Clayton County Detention Facility on Monday evening, according to online jail records. Attempts to reach his family and co-workers through multiple phone numbers and emails were unsuccessful. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had a lawyer who could comment on the charges. Nick Roberts, who has known Cagle since high school, texted his friend Sunday night after being concerned by Facebook posts he had made. He said Cagle was struggling with mental health issues. Cagle had posted on Facebook earlier Sunday that he is schizophrenic and was taking medication. Roberts said Cagle called him at about 9 p.m. Sunday night and assured him he was OK. Roberts said Cagle loved his two daughters and worked hard hauling hay and doing fencing work. “I want folks to know that he wasn’t some monster,” Roberts said. “This was a very big surprise for a lot of us that went to high school with him and know him in the community.” Atlanta police will work with federal authorities to determine how he obtained the gun, […]

The Donald Trump administration received a significant victory Monday when a federal appeals court ruled the president may proceed with his plan to send National Guard troops to Portland.

A panel of three judges from the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 2-1 decision overturning one of two temporary restraining orders that had blocked the deployment into the city.

Judges Ryan Nelson and Bridget Bade—both appointed by President Trump—backed the president’s efforts to move federal troops into Democrat-led municipalities.

“After considering the record at this preliminary stage, we conclude that it is likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority under 10 U.S.C. § 12406(3), which authorizes the federalization of the National Guard when ‘the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States,’” the majority opinion stated.

During oral arguments, Judge Nelson observed that it “may well be that the forces are used in an improper way” but maintained that the court didn’t “have evidence of that.”

The sole dissent on the panel came from a judge appointed by Bill Clinton.

Earlier in October, a federal judge in Oregon had blocked the National Guard deployment to Portland. The court cited the president’s decision as being “untethered to reality” in her emergency order and warned that he was risking “blurring the line between civil and military federal power – to the detriment of this nation.”

In response, the White House accused the judge of being “untethered in reality” in a sharp statement before turning to the appeals court for relief.

Stacy Chaffin, an assistant attorney general in Oregon, argued that Trump’s portrayal of violence in Portland did not remotely justify federalizing the National Guard. She contended that the city’s demonstrations did not meet the condition of a “rebellion,” one of the triggers the president cited for deploying troops.

President Trump has advocated National Guard deployments in other cities led by Democrats, including Chicago, despite resistance from state officials.

Democrats have accused the president of exaggerating the threat to validate his effort to “federalize” cities, while Trump and his backers point to violent anti-ICE protests as grounds for military intervention.

Separately, on Shabbos, the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals eased a lower-court order blocking the federal deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago, though that ruling limited the soldiers to a reserve base outside the city rather than inside its borders.

On Monday, the city of Portland was hit with a civil-rights complaint amid continuing street protests, accused of employing “race-first” policies even as it pledged to scale back its diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.

{Matzav.com}

A manhunt is underway in France for the four people who staged an audacious daylight robbery at the Louvre museum. But what are the thieves likely to do with the stolen jewelry?

A shortage of air traffic controllers has crippled operations across the nation’s airports, triggering widespread flight delays as the federal government shutdown drags into its 20th consecutive day, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed Monday.

According to FlightAware, approximately 7,850 flights within, into, or out of the United States were delayed on Sunday alone. By early Monday, over 1,000 additional flights had already been impacted.

The FAA attributed major slowdowns at airports in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and Newark over the weekend to staffing shortages, Reuters reported. The agency also warned of potential delays in Las Vegas and Phoenix for the same reason.

“As [Transportation] Secretary [Sean] Duffy has said, there have been increased staffing shortages across the system. When that happens, the FAA slows traffic into some airports to ensure safe operations,” an FAA spokesperson told The Hill.

Reuters also noted that poor weather conditions and the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Austin contributed to additional delays on Sunday.

Earlier this month, Duffy told Fox Business that “53 percent of flight delays were caused by staffing issues,” describing it as a sharp increase from the typical rate of around five percent.

Currently, around 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration employees continue to work without pay during the prolonged shutdown.

Aviation analysts have cautioned that delays may worsen as unpaid employees begin to call out sick, echoing what occurred during the 2019 government shutdown.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been broadcasting videos in airports blaming Democrats for refusing to fund the government’s reopening—though many airports have chosen not to air them.

The shutdown has now entered the record books as the third-longest in U.S. history.

{Matzav.com}