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In a meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the need for Israel to take additional steps to protect humanitarian workers and ensure the delivery of aid throughout Gaza. The meeting comes as the Israel-Hamas war continues, with ongoing efforts to secure a hostage-ceasefire deal. According to a State Department readout, Blinken “emphasized the need to take additional steps to protect humanitarian workers in Gaza and deliver assistance throughout Gaza in full coordination with the United Nations.” He also updated Gallant on US planning for the post-war governance of Gaza, emphasizing the importance of this work to Israel’s security. The US has repeatedly criticized Israel for its handling of the situation in Gaza, arguing that failure to plan for the “day after” will lead to either permanent occupation or chaos in the Strip, allowing Hamas to reconstitute. Regarding the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Blinken “underscored the importance of avoiding further escalation of the conflict and reaching a diplomatic resolution that allows both Israeli and Lebanese families to return to their homes.” He reaffirmed the United States’ “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant called his plans to meet with two top U.S. officials “extremely important and impactful on the future of the war in Gaza and our ability to achieve the goals of the war.”

On Monday, Gallant’s office released a statement translated from Hebrew to English before he met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and CIA director William Burns, saying his meeting with the intelligence chief would “discuss the hostage issue. I have been dealing with this issue since the first day [of the war].”

He continued, “I would like to emphasize that it is Israel’s primary commitment to return the hostages, with no exception, to their families and homes.”

Describing his upcoming meeting with Blinken as “critical,” Gallant said, “among other topics, we will discuss the transition to ‘Phase C’ in Gaza and its impact on the region, including vis-à-vis Lebanon and other areas.”

Gallant is also scheduled to speak with White House senior advisor Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk, White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa.

“We are discussing a variety of issues,” said the defense minister, noting that like in prior meetings, the goal is to “reach agreements and solve issues,” even when the challenges are formidable. “And I am sure this will be true this time as well.”

{Matzav.com}

The $230 million temporary “trident” pier anchored to the coast of Gaza, which has been beset by problems and required several repairs, is again on hold, according to U.S. Central Command.

“Today, operations at the pier will pause for scheduled maintenance activities,” CENTCOM stated on Monday.

More than three million pounds of aid crossed the pier, which was re-anchored on June 19, over the weekend, and the 1.58 million pounds of aid delivered via the pier on Sunday was “the largest single-day delivery of aid to date,” CENTCOM stated.

It added that some 13.6 million pounds of aid have been delivered via the pier since May 17. “This humanitarian operation is made possible by our continued partnership with the United Nations and many international and regional partners,” it stated.

{Matzav.com}

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) plans to visit Israel on Wednesday and Thursday this week—his second international trip since winning his congressional seat in 2022, according to Jewish Insider.

The trip will be the pro-Israel senator’s first visit to the Jewish state, the publication reported, citing three sources familiar with his travel plans.

At the Yeshiva University’s commencement ceremony on May 29, when he received an award from the school, Fetterman dramatically removed his Harvard University hood and said he didn’t feel comfortable wearing it given the Jew-hatred at the Ivy League in Cambridge, Mass.

“I do not fundamentally believe that it is right for me to wear this today,” the Harvard alumnus said during the ceremony.

In March, several of Fetterman’s staffers cited his support for Israel in their decision to resign from his staff.

In April 2022, Fetterman told Jewish Insider he hoped to visit Israel.

“I am committing, if I’m the nominee in this race, to visit as rapidly as possible and make sure I see firsthand the dynamic on the ground and meet with as many stakeholders as possible,” he told the publication.

“That’s my commitment, as the nominee, to do that, because it is so critical to make sure that, if I’m going to represent the Senate in Pennsylvania, we have that kind of on-the-ground understanding of what’s going on,” he said at the time.

{Matzav.com}

On Monday, it was cleared for publication that Sergeant Major (SGM) Mohammad El Atrash, was killed while fighting against the terrorists on October 7th, and his body is being held by Hamas. His family has been informed. In December, the IDF had previously said he had been adducted to Gaza.

Atrash, aged 39, was a resident of Mulada from the Al-Atrash tribe. He was a soldier in the Bedouin Trackers Unit in the Northern Brigade of the Gaza Division. He is survived by two wives and 13 children.

The Hostages Families Forum released a statement saying that the organization “bows its head in sorrow and with a heavy heart following the confirmation that Sergeant Major Mohammad Alatrash fell in battle on October 7th, and his body was subsequently abducted to Gaza by Hamas terrorists.”

“The Families Forum will continue to support and stand by the family during this difficult time and until his remains are returned to Israel.

“The media is kindly requested to refrain from contacting the family during this challenging period and to respect their privacy.”

{Matzav.com}

Early Sunday morning, The Los Angeles Times dubbed Karen Bass “mayor of the city of the eternal future” in a profile in its “L.A. Influential” section that spoke of “Los Angeles’s first female and second black mayor” as “instantly hyper-alert, composed and commanding,” and a “pragmatic leader.”

Bass made “good on a campaign pledge to push a fractious patchwork of government actors toward something resembling coordination” and “commands respect with an outstretched hand instead of a clenched fist,” the Times reported.

Hours later, as clenched fists had targeted Jews in what many called a “pogrom” outside Adas Torah, a Frum Shul in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood, many were asking where Bass was and why police weren’t protecting Jews.

“Pro-Hamas and Hezbollah extremists violently attacked American Jews in Los Angeles and the politicians ordered the police to do nothing to defend them,” wrote Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “Radical leftists and Islamists are ruining our country.”‘

Noah Pollak, a political consultant and writer, wrote that he was at the Shul for an event on Sunday.

“The Los Angeles Police Department let the Hamas supporters take over the sidewalk in front of the shul and block its entrance. In fact, LAPD had formed a cordon around the front of the shul to keep Jews out and Hamas supporters in,” Pollak wrote.

He added that he and his children tried to enter via the front door but were “turned away not by Hamas supporters but by the LAPD. Anyone who wanted to attend had to use a secret back entrance.”

Pollak called the mayor and the LAPD “an absolute disgrace—it’s clear the police have been instructed to help the Democratic Party street animals do their thuggery. They were definitely not there to protect the right of Jews to enter their shul.”

Hours after the violence outside the synagogue, Bass stated that “today’s violence in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood today was abhorrent, and blocking access to a place of worship is unacceptable.”

“I’ve called on LAPD to provide additional patrols in the Pico-Robertson community as well as outside of houses of worship throughout the city,” the mayor wrote. “I want to be clear that Los Angeles will not be a harbor for antisemitism and violence. Those responsible for either will be found and held accountable.”

Although critics noted that the mayor referred to “houses of worship” rather than to Jews being targeted at a synagogue, a senior vice president at the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles thanked Bass for her “unequivocal denunciation of the antisemitism we witnessed in our city today.”

JNS sought comment from the mayor.

“On June 23, 2024, at 10:52 a.m., officers responded to a large protest in West L.A. Division. A dispersal order was issued,” Drake Madison, an officer in the LAPD media relations division told JNS.

“One suspect was arrested for 55.07 LAMC-possession of a prohibited item at a protest (spiked flag),” the officer said. “The suspect was issued a RFC (citation) at West L.A. Station and subsequently released. There is no further information.”

‘This discrimination demands a response’

Israeli special envoy for combating antisemitism Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Disturbed frontman David Draiman and Independent Women’s Forum senior fellow Ellie Cohanim were among those who called the violence a pogrom.

“Local Jewish leaders report that the LAPD was told to ‘stand down,’” Cohanim wrote. “This discrimination by authorities demands a response.”

“Our streets are already unsafe thanks to Mayor Karen Bass,” wrote the Republican Party of Los Angeles County. “Let the police combat and quash this pro-Hamas violence before we drown in another ‘Summer of Love.’”

“If going to a predominantly Jewish neighborhood to harass and intimidate Jewish people at a synagogue is not antisemitism, what is?” wrote Rick Chavez Zbur, a California state representative and a Democrat. “This is hate unleashed and every community leader should be forcefully speaking out. Enough is enough.”

{Matzav.com}

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has reached a plea agreement with the United States government, allowing him to evade imprisonment in the U.S. for his role in leaking highly classified military documents.

As part of the deal, Assange will plead guilty to charges under the Espionage Act. He will also receive credit for the five years he spent incarcerated in the United Kingdom while contesting his extradition to the United States, as stated in court filings and various reports.

The Australian-born Assange faced charges of conspiracy to acquire and release national defense information after publishing classified documents related to the U.S. military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq on WikiLeaks, the documents reveal.

Following his guilty plea, Assange is anticipated to be released from detention in the UK. This plea is set to take place during a federal court session in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth, later this week.

{Matzav.com}

Snopes, the left wing fact checking site has rated the claim that then-President Donald Trump called neo-Nazis and white supremacists who attended the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, “very fine people” as “false”.

Snopes said: “Trump did say there were ‘very fine people on both sides,’ referring to the protesters and the counterprotesters. He said in the same statement he wasn’t talking about neo-Nazis and white nationalists, who he said should be ‘condemned totally,'”

Snopes’ later updated their post about the topic with a clarification, after readers had raised concerns that their fact check “appears to assume Trump was correct.” Snopes added that this “is not the case.”

Snopes described the reaction to Trump’s comments, saying they: “spread like wildfire,”. The quotes were taken out of context, and were used in Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.

{Matzav.com}

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi announced yesterday that the military is nearing victory over Hamas’s Rafah Brigade in the southern Gaza Strip. During a visit to the city, Halevi praised the troops’ “very significant achievements” in the fighting, citing the high number of terrorists killed and infrastructure destroyed, including tunnels. Halevi highlighted the importance of the IDF’s control over the Philadelphi Route on the Gaza-Egypt border, stating that it has closed Hamas’s “oxygen pipeline for future smuggling.” He declared that the military is “clearly approaching the point where we can say we dismantled the Rafah Brigade. It is defeated not in the sense that there are no more terrorists in it, but in the sense that it can no longer function as a fighting framework.” The IDF Chief of Staff revealed that “many” of the Rafah Brigade’s operatives have been killed and encouraged the troops to continue their mission, saying “you will take care to kill as many terrorists as possible and destroy as much infrastructure as possible until the end of the mission here.” This statement indicates a significant milestone in the ongoing conflict, as the IDF continues to target Hamas’s military capabilities. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Over 100 victims of the October 7th massacre filed a lawsuit on Monday in a New York federal court against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), alleging that its employees were responsible for Hamas atrocities including genocide, crimes against humanity, torture and rape. The lawsuit names six former and present UNRWA leaders, including Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini. “Hamas did not carry out these atrocities without assistance. It was aided and abetted by, among others, the above-named defendants who are current or former senior officials [at UNRWA] and UNRWA itself who collectively spent over a decade prior to the October 7 attack helping Hamas build up the terror infrastructure and personnel that were necessary to carry out the attack.” The lawsuit added that UNRWA was “warned repeatedly that their policies were providing assistance to Hamas. In the face of those warnings, defendants continued those very policies.” “The findings in this lawsuit demonstrate that UNRWA was aware of and actively participated in the diversion of funds earmarked to support the people of Gaza into channels that ensured those funds were used for terrorism and in violation of international law,” said Bijan Amini, one of the lead lawyers in the case. “UNRWA’s insistence that over a billion dollars in Gaza aid be distributed in U.S. cash that locals could not spend without going through Hamas moneychangers is one of the most damning pieces of new evidence presented in this case.” Instead of making aid payments in the local currency of Israeli shekels, UNRWA insisted on making aid payments in US dollars – a currency that the residents of Gaza could not use. This method was only used in Gaza, with aid to the Shomron, Jordan and other UN refugee programs provided in the local currency. Along with the cost and risk of transporting $20 million a month in cash to the Strip, this program required aid recipients to pay Hamas money changers 10-20% commissions to convert their dollars into shekels. “This payment scheme reduced the real value of aid to Gaza residents by $2-4 million per month and increased Hamas’s monthly revenue by that amount. Perhaps more significantly, it ensured a reliable supply of U.S. dollar currency into Hamas’s control each month, which was necessary to pay smugglers and arms dealers who do not accept shekels as payment,” the lawsuit stated. Two of the plaintiffs are Gadi and Reuma Kedem, whose daughter, son-in-law, and three grandchildren were murdered by Hamas. “There is no pain in the world that compares to burying your children and grandchildren who were murdered and suffocated in their own home,” said Gadi and Reuma Kadem in a statement. “All that is left is to fight to hold those responsible for strengthening Hamas to account. UNRWA strengthened Hamas and transferred funds and financed the murders, acting as a full partner in the growth of Hamas terrorists. UNRWA and its directors are fully complicit in the murder of my children and family.” Released hostage Ditza Heiman, 84, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz and held in Gaza by a UNWRA teacher. A father of ten, he held her alone in his mouse-infested attic and at times, brought her UNWRA rations. Heiman stated: “The fact that Hamas controlled Gaza was not an excuse for UNRWA to hire […]

Former White House physician , Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, who served for George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, said he would request that President Joe Biden’s physician submit the president to a performance-enhancing drug test.

Jackson said: “So tomorrow I’m sending a letter,” “to President Biden, to his physician, Dr. [Kevin] O’Connor, and I’m cc’ing his entire Cabinet. It’s embarrassing that I have to do this, and it’s really embarrassing … as a former White House physician to have to do something like this, but we don’t have any choice. I’m going to be demanding on behalf of many millions of concerned Americans right now that he submit to a drug test before and after this debate, specifically looking for performance-enhancing drugs; because we see, we’ve seen recently in his State of the Union address that there was a Joe Biden that came out that was not similar at all to what we see on a day-to-day basis for the last 3 1/2 years.”

“And there’s surely no way to explain that other than he was on something,” he continued.

Jackson expressed his concern that Biden may give Americans a false impression of Biden’s mental state, if he conducts the debate while taking something.

Regarding the reporting that Biden will be spending the week in Camp David, Maryland, prepping for the debate, Jackson said: “Part of that is probably experimenting, getting the doses just right. They have to treat his cognition, give him something to help him think straighter, to wake him up for his alertness and then, you know, he’s been agitated. We see that all the time. And that’s a common symptom or sign of this cognitive disorder that he seems to be suffering from. So they’re probably going to give him something to take the edge off that as well,”.

Jackson continued: “They didn’t get it right last time at the State of the Union. He came out, he was obviously much more alert. But he was a yelling, angry old man, and he still didn’t make a lot of sense.

“So I think they’ve got an uphill battle here. But I think they’re going to have to do something to try and wake him up and perform a little better during the debate, and I don’t think that’s what the American people want out of their president.”

{Matzav.com}

Sleep issues affect millions of people worldwide and they take a major toll on our community as well.  So many people are struggling with insomnia, apnea, and other chronic sleep issues that leave them feeling exhausted and worn out.  But former insomniac turned Integrative Sleep Coach, Doron Lazarus is on a mission to change all that.  As opposed to focusing on the symptoms of sleep itself, Doron and his team at the Sleep Coach Academy spend time uncovering the root causes of sleep issues and help people around the world rebalance body, mind and breathing to sleep their best for life.  “Working with the Sleep Coach Academy was life changing. They worked with me to develop a customized approach to accomplish my sleep goals, and get off the pills, which I did. I highly recommend it.”  – Baruch B, Passaic Sleep issues are not all the same and that’s why Doron and his team focus on creating customized solutions even if other methods have failed.  [WATCH NOW] Video: How to Permanently Solve Your Sleep Issues  “The Sleep Coach Academy was able to really pinpoint my problem and give me direction and advice on how to feel better and start sleeping like a normal person! I highly highly recommend calling them for sleep coaching. It’ll change your life. Without proper sleep, one cannot function. I feel like a different person and I’m so grateful.” – Rivka S, Lakewood Ready to book in your free sleep consultation? CLICK HERE to book your free consultation today! PS. Are you interested in training to become a sleep expert yourself? An exciting new career with strong earning potential? Then check out… [WATCH NOW] Video: How to Launch Your Profitable Sleep Coaching Career 

Over 100 victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court today, alleging that a scandal-plagued United Nations agency has led a long-standing money laundering operation to the financial benefit of the terror group.

The suit, filed in the District Court for the Southern District of New York, names as defendants the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and seven commissioners-general, deputy commissioners-general and a director, accusing them of participating in a decade-plus scheme of fraud and corruption.

“There is no pain in the world that compares to burying your children and grandchildren who were murdered and suffocated in their own home,” said Gadi and Reuma Kadem in a statement. “All that is left is to fight to hold those responsible for strengthening Hamas to account. UNRWA strengthened Hamas and transferred funds and financed the murders, acting as a full partner in the growth of Hamas terrorists. UNRWA and its directors are fully complicit in the murder of my children and family. ”

UNRWA, the Palestinian-only aid and social services agency, has long been accused of fomenting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through its unique treatment and perpetuation of the Palestinian refugee situation, incitement to violence in its schools and its employees’ ties to terror organizations.

“The findings in this lawsuit demonstrate that UNRWA was aware of and actively participated in the diversion of funds earmarked to support the people of Gaza into channels that ensured those funds were used for terrorism and in violation of international law,” said Bijan Amini, one of the lead lawyers in the case. “UNRWA’s insistence that over a billion dollars in Gaza aid be distributed in U.S. cash that locals could not spend without going through Hamas moneychangers is one of the most damning pieces of new evidence presented in this case.”

The lawsuit accuses UNRWA of insisting that aid payments in Gaza be made in U.S. dollars rather than Israeli shekels, which is the local currency. The suit claims this practice is unique to Gaza, and did not apply to aid payments made to other Palestinians benefiting from UNRWA, including those in Judea and Samaria or Jordan. Nor, the suit says, does it apply to refugees in any other U.N. program, all of whom are handled outside the Palestinian sector by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Asked by JNS about the accuracy of the claim, an UNRWA spokeswoman said on Sunday morning that she did not have the information needed, but would check.

The dollar-based payments, the suit says, require aid recipients to use Hamas’s moneychangers to convert them into usable shekels, diverting fees of 10% to 20% into Hamas’s coffers.

“This payment scheme reduced the real value of aid to Gaza residents by $2-4 million per month, and increased Hamas’s monthly revenue by that amount. Perhaps more significantly, it ensured a reliable supply of U.S. dollar currency into Hamas’s control each month, which was necessary to pay smugglers and arms dealers who do not accept shekels as payment,” read a statement announcing the lawsuit.

The lawsuit further alleges that Hamas “openly controlled 24 of 26 leadership positions in the UNRWA employee union,” and repeats Israeli government accusations that at least 10% of UNRWA employees were members of Hamas and over 100 participated in the Oct. 7 attack.

“UNRWA facilities and schools were used to store weapons and as entry points and supply for Hamas tunnels and bunkers. Hamas’s command and control center for the Oct. 7 attack was located directly beneath UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City, and used power and servers from that facility to coordinate terrorist movements during the attack,” reads the statement.

While 16 countries suspended funding to UNRWA after the allegations surfaced of employee participation in the Oct. 7 massacre, all but the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand have since restored donations. The Israeli government has been largely uncooperative with and distrustful of the United Nations’ requests for additional information and evidence.

One of the three named plaintiffs in the lawsuit is Ditza Heiman, an 84-year-old grandmother taken captive from Kibbutz Nir Oz and released on Nov. 28 as part of a ceasefire and hostage/security prisoner exchange.

For the first time, Heiman’s name has been revealed as the elderly hostage who says she was held captive by an UNRWA teacher.

“The fact that Hamas controlled Gaza was not an excuse for UNRWA to hire and fund terrorists, but instead should have ensured UNRWA took extra precautions,” Heiman said in the statement announcing the lawsuit. “UNRWA knew it was hiring terrorists and that its funds and facilities were being used for violence, but UNRWA’s complicity in paying and empowering terrorists to teach and radicalize a generation of Gaza’s children was perhaps even more evil and tragic.”

The previously-unnamed Heiman and her family had told media, under condition of anonymity, that she was held alone by a father of 10 in the mouse-infested, unfinished attic of his house.

After her meals were whittled down to one small ration a day, the UNRWA teacher, according to a media report, started bringing Heiman UNRWA-branded energy bars, and later delivered to her an UNRWA-branded notepad for writing.

According to Heiman, she learned of the man’s profession and employer from his daughter, who spoke English, on her final day in captivity.

Critics of UNRWA say a recent review of the agency’s neutrality and hiring practices was largely a pre-determined whitewash conducted by organizations that had already absolved UNRWA of accountability.

A separate U.N. investigation into UNRWA staffers’ participation in the event of Oct. 7 is ongoing, and the United Nations has not provided any information on its progress or findings thus far. JNS

A coalition of groups filed a lawsuit Monday against the state of Louisiana’s new requirement to post the Ten Commandments in every school classroom, claiming parents’ rights are violated by the new law.

“Permanently posting the Ten Commandments in every Louisiana public-school classroom – rendering them unavoidable – unconstitutionally pressures students into religious observance, veneration, and adoption of the state’s favored religious scripture,” says the suit, which charges that there is no long-standing tradition of hanging the commandments in classrooms and that courts have already ruled against the practice.

The suit was filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and the ACLU’s national and state offices in U.S. District Court. The plaintiffs include nine Louisiana families of different faiths, among them several members of the clergy.

The groups, which work to protect church-state separation, had said last week they would challenge the law, which was signed Wednesday by Gov. Jeff Landry (R) and is the first of its kind in the country since 1980, when the Supreme Court ruled a similar Kentucky law unconstitutional.

The state attorney general’s office did not offer a fresh response to the suit Monday, but pointed to earlier social media posts.

“The 10 Commandments are pretty simple (don’t kill, steal, cheat on your wife), but they also are important to our country’s foundations. Moses, who you may recall brought the 10 Commandments down from Mount Sinai, appears eight times in carvings that ring the United States Supreme Court Great Hall ceiling. I look forward to defending the law,” Attorney General Liz Murrill said last week on the social media site X.

The new law gives schools until Jan. 1 to display the Ten Commandments on “a poster or framed document that is at least eleven inches by fourteen inches” in every classroom. The commandments have to be the display’s “central focus” and be “printed in a large, easily readable font,” the law says.

(c) Washington Post

The U.S. Postal Service has shared information from thousands of Americans’ letters and packages with law enforcement every year for the past decade, conveying the names, addresses and other details from the outside of boxes and envelopes without requiring a court order.

Postal inspectors say they fulfill such requests only when mail monitoring can help find a fugitive or investigate a crime. But a decade’s worth of records, provided exclusively to The Washington Post in response to a congressional probe, show Postal Service officials have received more than 60,000 requests from federal agents and police officers since 2015, and that they rarely say no.

Each request can cover days or weeks of mail sent to or from a person or address, and 97 percent of the requests were approved, according to the data. Postal inspectors recorded more than 312,000 letters and packages between 2015 and 2023, the records show.

The surveillance technique, known as the mail covers program, has long been used by postal inspectors to help track down suspects or evidence. The practice is legal, and the inspectors said they share only what they can see on the outside of the mail; the Fourth Amendment requires them to get a warrant to peek inside.

But the Postal Service’s law enforcement arm, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, has traditionally declined to say how often it facilitates such requests, saying in a 2015 audit that such details would decrease the program’s effectiveness by “alerting criminals” to how the technique works.

For that audit, the agency said it had approved more than 158,000 requests from postal inspectors and law enforcement officials over the previous four years. The IRS, FBI and the Department of Homeland Security were among the top requesters.

In a letter in May 2023, a group of eight senators, including Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), urged the agency to require a federal judge to approve the requests and to share more details on the program, saying officials there had chosen to “provide this surveillance service and to keep postal customers in the dark about the fact they have been subjected to monitoring.”

In a response earlier this month, the chief postal inspector, Gary Barksdale, declined to change the policy but provided nearly a decade’s worth of data showing that postal inspectors, federal agencies, and state and local police forces made an average of about 6,700 requests a year, and that inspectors additionally recorded data from about another 35,000 pieces of mail a year.

Barksdale said in a letter to the senators in June 2023 that the program was not a “large-scale surveillance apparatus” and was focused only on mail that could help police and national security agencies “carry out their missions and protect the American public.”

The practice, he added, had been legally authorized since 1879, a year after the Supreme Court ruled that government officials needed a warrant before opening any sealed letter.

“There is no reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to information contained on the outside of mail matter,” Barksdale wrote.

Wyden said in a statement, “These new statistics show that thousands of Americans are subjected to warrantless surveillance each year, and that the Postal Inspection Service rubber stamps practically all of the requests they receive.” He also criticized the agency for “refusing to raise its standards and require law enforcement agencies monitoring the outside of Americans’ mail to get a court order, which is already required to monitor emails and texts.”

Anxieties over postal surveillance are classically American. In 1798, Vice President Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter that his fears of having his private communications exposed by the “infidelities of the post office” had stopped him from “writing fully & freely.”

In their letter last year, the senators said that even the exteriors of mail could be deeply revealing for many Americans, giving clues about the people they talk to, the bills they pay, the churches they attend, the political views they subscribe to and the social causes they support.

In 1978, a circuit court judge said the mail covers could expose someone’s personal life “in a manner unobtainable even through surveillance of his movements,” rendering “the subject’s life an open book.”

(c) Washington Post

Heat alerts are in effect Monday for about 60 million people in the Lower 48, with all but about 5 million of them in the central part of the country. A swath of the United States from the Gulf Coast across much of the Plains and Midwest and up to southern South Dakota and Minnesota is forecast to see heat indexes – a combination of how heat and humidity feel – reaching 105 or higher Monday afternoon.

While the heat will make it less far north in coming days, much of the same region will endure daily punishment through the workweek. In much of the Northeast, a cold front pushing off the East Coast is delivering a respite after numerous record highs were set late last week through the weekend. For areas like the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic, any breaks are probably short and intermixed with heat.

All signs favor a very hot start to July – including the possibility of a heat dome resurgence for the East Coast at the start of the month.

– – –

Where the heat wave is shifting

The hottest conditions are shifting west to the central and southern Plains as well as the Deep South. The footprint Tuesday will probably be similar.

Wednesday could bring widespread mid-90s to around 100 back to the Mid-Atlantic as high heat continues to blast the South, then toward Oklahoma and Texas.

These spots stay hot to close out the workweek, as much of the Northeast sees another couple of days of lower temperatures. By the weekend, another resurgence of high heat is anticipated in the Ohio Valley, Lower Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions.

– – –

Where heat is worst this week

Temperatures from 100 to 105 are forecast to be widespread Monday across much of Kansas, as well as parts of surrounding states. Cities including Houston, Dallas, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Kansas City and Omaha will see heat indexes of 105 to 110 or so.

Highs of 100 to 105 will be common again Tuesday in Kansas, Oklahoma and western Texas. Highs around 100 in parts of the Deep South will be accompanied by heat index values up to 105 or 110.

Additional days of 100 to 105 highs remain likely for Oklahoma to western Texas for the rest of the workweek.

Wichita; Oklahoma City; Amarillo, Tex.; and Dallas are all likely to see multiple days at or above 100, and in some cases, it will be most or all days through Friday.

– – –

On Wednesday, record high threats return to the Mid-Atlantic.

Record risk is more nebulous thereafter, but more are also a good bet, especially in the South and occasionally northward. Record warm lows will be more numerous and fairly widespread.

– – –

Records from the latest stretch of heat

It was the hottest weekend (and days prior) in several years for the entirety of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Locations in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia set multiple record highs over the past week. In DuBois, Pa., six days out of the seven saw record highs. The National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, N.J., tallied four. Hartford, Conn., notched three.

Over the past week, an average of about 200 daily records for maximum high and low temperatures were set each day, with a peak of about 250 on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to data compiled by the Southeast Regional Climate Center. Roughly 5.5 warm records were set for every 1 record cold.

A few cities reached the century mark, including Baltimore (101); Newark (100); Reading, Pa. (101); Raleigh, N.C. (100); Toms River, N.J. (100); and Washington (100). Additionally, Charlottesville (99); Boston (98); Hartford (98); Millinocket, Maine (97); and Philadelphia (98) reached the upper 90s.

Caribou, Maine, was among spots reaching all-time marks. It hit 96, tying the hottest temperature ever recorded there.

Hundreds of record warm lows were also breached.

Washington’s low of 81 on Sunday was the warmest so early in summer and second-warmest on record in June. It came sandwiched between a near-record high Saturday and a record high Sunday.

– – –

July could be more scorching than normal

Weather Service forecasts for July indicate high odds of a hotter-than-usual July in much of the country, especially the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, as well as areas bordering the continental divide into the Desert Southwest.

Two bouts of cooler air also will probably target the northern tier, Great Lakes and Northeast through the end of June.

Signals from the most skillful weather modeling suggest the resurgence of a potent heat dome focused on the East Coast by early July, potentially bouncing around with time.

(c) Washington Post

Car dealerships in North America continue to wrestle with major disruptions that started last week with cyberattacks on a software company used widely in the auto retail sales sector. CDK Global, a company that provides software for thousands of auto dealers in the U.S. and Canada, was hit by back-to-back cyberattacks Wednesday. That led to an outage that has continued to impact operations. For prospective car buyers, that’s meant delays at dealerships or vehicle orders written up by hand. There’s no immediate end in sight, with CDK saying it expects the restoration process to take “several days” to complete. On Monday, Group 1 Automotive Inc., a $4 billion automotive retailers, said that it continued to use “alternative processes” to sell cars to its customers. Here is what you need to know. What is CDK Global? CDK Global is a major player in the auto sales industry. The company, based just outside of Chicago in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, provides software technology to dealers that helps with day-today operations — like facilitating vehicle sales, financing, insurance and repairs. CDK serves more than 15,000 retail locations across North America, according to the company. What happened last week? CDK experienced back-to-back cyberattacks on Wednesday. The company shut down all of its systems out of an abundance of caution, spokesperson Lisa Finney said last week. “We have begun the restoration process,” Finney said in an update over the weekend — noting that the company had launched an investigation into the “cyber incident” with third-party experts and notified law enforcement. “Based on the information we have at this time, we anticipate that the process will take several days to complete, and in the interim we are continuing to actively engage with our customers and provide them with alternate ways to conduct business,” she added. In messages to its customers, the company has also warned of “bad actors” posing as members or affiliates of CDK to try to obtain system access by contacting customers. It urged them to be cautious of any attempted phishing. The incident bore all the hallmarks of a ransomware attack, in which in which targets are asked to pay a ransom to access encrypted files. But CDK declined to comment directly — neither confirming or denying if it had received a ransom demand. Are impacted dealerships still selling cars? Several major auto companies — including Stellantis, Ford and BMW — confirmed to The Associated Press last week that the CDK outage had impacted some of their dealers, but that sales operations continue. In light of the ongoing situation, a spokesperson for Stellantis said Friday that many dealerships had switched to manual processes to serve customers. That includes writing up orders by hand. A Ford spokesperson added that the outage may cause “some delays and inconveniences at some dealers and for some customers.” However, many Ford and Lincoln customers are still getting sales and service support through alternative routes being used at dealerships. Group 1 Automotive Inc., which owns 202 automotive dealerships, 264 franchises, and 42 collision centers in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, said Monday that the incident has disrupted its business applications and processes in its U.S. operations that rely on CDK’s dealers’ systems. The company said that it took measures to protect and isolate its systems from CDK’s platform. All […]

The International Women’s Media Foundation announced the winners of its 35th Annual Courage in Journalism Awards on June 10, an event that honors “remarkable bravery in the pursuit of reporting,” and is backed by Bank of America.

One of the 2024 winners, per an archived version of the page, was “Maha Hussaini, a Palestinian freelance journalist” and “multimedia journalist,” who “faces daily threats to her life while covering the Israel-Hamas war from her homeland of Gaza. Despite displacement, and enduring a physically debilitating aerial assault, Hussaini continues to report, most often for Middle East Eye.”

On June 18, the Washington Free Beacon reported that Hussaini had “approvingly posted antisemitic cartoons that were drawn by the first- and second-place winners of Iran’s 2006 International Holocaust Cartoon Contest” and wrote “glory to the martyrs” after Palestinian terrorists killed two Israeli border officers in 2017.

In 2021, Hussaini wrote of “our resistance” bombing “the occupation again,” per the Free Beacon, which reported that Suzanne Malveaux, the foundation’s board chair, is a former romantic partner of White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

The foundation’s board includes MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, CBS News’s Norah O’Donnell, ABC News’s Kerry Smith and Bank of America’s Jessica Oppenheim, the publication added.

Hussaini also wrote that “whether we like it or not, Hamas constitutes [sic] a large part of the Palestinian society” and “condemning it doesn’t only mean opposing a political party but criminalizing people’s choice to resist oppression,” per the Free Beacon.

“I have no regrets about any posts or reasons that led to the rescinding of this award, and I will not stop expressing my views,” she wrote on social media. “Before being a journalist, I am a Palestinian living under military occupation, a strangling blockade and genocide in Gaza.”

“I regret to say that the very organization that recognized these perilous conditions and awarded me the prize succumbed to pressure and chose to act contrary to courage,” she added. “They rescinded the award in a decision that would put my life at risk.”

‘Undeniable courage’

In its first post on June 10, the International Women’s Media Foundation quoted Hussaini, who said, “I didn’t choose to be a journalist—I had to be a journalist. Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023, I have become increasingly aware that journalists are targets, and I could be next.”

“My work carries immense risk, not only for myself but for my family and those seeking refuge in the same shelter with me,” she said. “This award comes at a crucial time, with hundreds of Palestinian colleagues and journalists killed during Israel’s war on Gaza. I am hopeful that this honor will shed further light not just on my work, but on the work of all Palestinian journalists who face death daily and grapple with unspeakable challenges in reporting.”

Another archived page on the International Women’s Media Foundation site notes that “her reporting about the survivors of Israeli field executions has been used as evidence of Israeli genocide in South Africa’s case before the International Court of Justice.”

Both pages now return 404 errors on the foundation’s website.

On June 20, the foundation wrote that “within the last 24 hours, the IWMF learned of comments made by Maha Hussaini in past years that contradict the values of our organization.”

“As a result, we have rescinded the Courage in Journalism Award that was previously given to her,” it stated, according to an archived version of that page. “Both the Courage Awards and the IWMF’s mission are based on integrity and opposition to intolerance. We do not, and will not, condone or support views or statements that do not adhere to those principles.”

The following day, the foundation updated that page again, this time praising Hussaini even as it said it didn’t support her prior comments.

“The IWMF recognizes the undeniable courage of Maha Hussaini and the importance of her work in Gaza under dire circumstances. However, we recently learned of comments she made on digital and social platforms that starkly contradict the values of our organization,” the live page now reads.

“As a result, we made the difficult decision to rescind her Courage in Journalism Award,” it added. “The Courage Awards reflect the IWMF’s mission and principles, including opposition to intolerance. We do not, and will not, condone or support views or statements that do not adhere to those principles.”

{Matzav.com}

The U.K.’s Home Office professional standards unit is looking into a report of harassment of Israeli travelers by customs officials at Heathrow International Airport.

Passengers arriving at Heathrow on an El Al flight from Ben Gurion International Airport made their way to the exit at around 10:30 p.m. on June 10, according to UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), which filed the complaint with the Home Office that led to the opening of an investigation.

As one passenger described it to UKLFI: “We were walking towards the exit when a customs official appeared and asked a man in front of me what he had on his suitcase. The man replied that it was an Israeli flag. Immediately the customs official started shouting that everyone on the Israeli flight must go to the room on the left.”

“One traveler said ‘why us?’ The official didn’t reply. Another traveler said: ‘We are Jewish, why are you doing this to us?’ The official said ‘I’m a customs officer and I can do whatever I want,’” the passenger related.

Two officers were in the hallway, a man and a woman. The woman repeated, “We can do whatever we want.”

The Israelis had to take their luggage off their carts, and another airport staff member put them through a scanning machine. After that, the passengers were allowed to leave.

A second passenger on the same flight wrote a complaint to the Border Force, saying:

“I was very unpleasantly surprised to be very suddenly hurled aside with all other passengers from my flight from Israel. The officer gave no explanation, prevented anyone that came from Israel from coming through and forced us all to have all our baggages checked. Even the other officers were smiling uncomfortably, saying ‘I don’t know why she did that.’”

The passengers described feeling harassed and subjected to degrading treatment simply because they were Jewish.

“It was a horrible feeling to be shunted into another room,” the first passenger said.

“According to s.29(6) of the Equality Act 2010 (‘the Act’), a person must not, in the exercise of a public function, do anything that constitutes discrimination, harassment or victimization,” according to UKLFI.

The Border Force denied the allegation, stating on June 12: “It is categorically untrue to report that passengers were detained upon arrival into Heathrow on Sunday evening.

“Border Force Heathrow target late night flights looking for prohibited and restricted goods as part of Border Security work, and on Sunday passengers from various flights were spoken to by Border Force Officers and had their bags X-rayed as is routine,” it said.

This is not the first reported incident of Israelis feeling intimidated or being harassed at U.K. airports since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7.

A week following the above incident, UKLFI filed a complaint with Heathrow’s services director after El Al passengers on June 16 were alarmed by certain badges on the lanyards of security staff.

Two of the staff wore watermelon badges—a symbol for Palestinian “resistance.”

“The people responsible for making sure terrorists don’t blow up airplanes were wearing badges that identify with terrorists,” one passenger noted.

UKLFI noted in its complaint to Heathrow’s services director that by wearing political badges, the staff were in breach not only of Heathrow’s uniform regulations, but also of Equality Act 2010.

In March, two brothers, Daniel and Neria Sharabi, who survived the Nova music festival massacre were singled out and interrogated as they entered England via Manchester Airport.

“When we presented our Israeli passports to the border control officers, they began asking us questions. I told them we came for Purim to speak with our community. My brother told them we were there to speak about Oct. 7,” said Daniel.

“At that point, the officer asked us what our religion is. We told them that we were Jewish survivors of the Supernova festival and that we came to tell our story.”

According to Sharabi, the officer then told the brothers to wait, without specifying the reason for the delay or explaining what the next steps would be.

“After an hour and a half, someone came to interrogate us in a very aggressive manner, repeating the same questions multiple times,” Daniel told JNS.

“When they finally stamped our passport, we didn’t want to go in anymore. We wanted to come back to Israel, but the community was waiting to hear from us, and we were not going to let them down,” he said.

{Matzav.com}