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NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration is moving toward awarding a $75 million contract to online grocery platform Mercato even as dozens of independent New York City supermarkets say the company has failed to pay them more than $1 million for groceries delivered to customers months ago, the NY Post reports.

San Diego-based Mercato operates an online marketplace that allows qualifying New Yorkers to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from neighborhood supermarkets at a 50% discount through the city’s “Groceries to Go” initiative. City records show the company has received $30.4 million through the program over the past four and a half years.

Store owners, however, say Mercato has fallen far behind on payments this year, leaving independent C-Town, Bravo, Key Food and other supermarkets collectively waiting for more than $1 million for food they already supplied to customers.

“I had to hunt them down and basically beg them for $10,000 — and they still owe me $4,500,” said Anthony Diaz, who manages a C-Town in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Jorge Guillen, who operates two Cherry Valley Marketplace locations in Queens and the Bronx, said Mercato owes his stores approximately $36,000.

“The impact on our business is huge,” Guillen told The Post. “It affects my ability to purchase goods and pay my bills, so we had to find new financing. We took on debt.”

Despite the complaints, the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recently awarded Mercato a new six-year contract worth $75 million, according to public filings. The agreement had been scheduled to take effect in July.

A health department spokesperson told The Post that the agency is “unaware of delays in payments to supermarkets.”

The agreement has not yet received final approval from the city Comptroller’s Office. A spokesperson for Comptroller Mark Levine said the office has “outstanding questions” for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene concerning the contract.

The spokesperson declined to disclose what questions the comptroller’s office has raised.

Mercato has been doing business with the city since 2023. Its previous $30.4 million contract expired June 30, and the city currently states on its website that the Groceries to Go program “has been paused and is not enrolling new participants at this time.”

Guillen said he participated in a Zoom meeting roughly a month ago with Mercato CEO Bobby Brannigan. According to Guillen, Brannigan attributed the company’s payment problems to delays in reimbursements from the city.

“Usually Mercato deposits the funds in 48 to 72 hours,” Guillen told The Post. “Now Mercato has not paid some NSA members since February.”

The city disputes the suggestion that its own payments are responsible for the problem. A health department spokesperson said a review of fiscal 2026 records showed that all invoices submitted by Mercato were paid on schedule.

“We don’t know why our members are not being paid,” said Anthony Peña, president of the National Supermarket Association, which represents approximately 450 independent New York City grocers.

“But at the end of the day the city is not properly vetting a company that it is funding,” Peña added. “It begs the question of what will happen with these public grocery stores.”

Peña was referring to Mamdani’s separate $70 million proposal to establish a government-operated supermarket in each of New York City’s five boroughs. The NSA and other groups representing local grocers have opposed that initiative, arguing that taxpayer-backed stores would create unfair competition for independent supermarkets already struggling to stay afloat.

Mercato operates beyond New York and has offered its services in major markets including San Francisco, Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, Austin and Washington, D.C. The company did not respond to multiple calls and emails from The Post requesting comment.

According to Peña, dozens of NSA members are owed a combined total exceeding $1 million, with some stores waiting months to receive their money. He said the problems emerged this year; previously, Mercato generally paid supermarkets anywhere from several days after a delivery to a couple of weeks later.

Several independent grocers said their relationship with Mercato had once been highly beneficial. The decade-old company, which relocated its headquarters from New York to San Diego in 2019, helped bring neighborhood supermarkets into the online-shopping business, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was grateful to them in the beginning,” said Diaz of Williamsburg, “They helped me to survive when there were very few services for the independents.”

Brannigan, a Brooklyn native, told the San Diego Tribune in 2019 that he began an online textbook business called ValloreBooks while in college in 2001. The company eventually reached $100 million in sales before he sold it in 2012. He subsequently invested in startups including Uber and Twilio, according to the report.

Another grocer, Aris Duran, who owns several Key Food locations across New York City, said his College Point store was owed $45,000 by Mercato in February. The company gradually made small payments toward the outstanding balance, but Duran said he eventually became frustrated and threatened legal action two weeks ago.

Duran said Mercato then suddenly sent him a $23,000 check that cleared the remaining debt. Nevertheless, he said he has no intention of doing business with Mercato again, particularly because the company continued charging him a $99 monthly service fee during the period when it was failing to pay for groceries supplied to customers.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health says it is still considering how the subsidized grocery initiative should be restarted after the program was suspended July 1.

“Groceries to Go provides eligible New Yorkers with critical access to affordable groceries online and for pickup or delivery. As prices of groceries increase, the importance of programs like this one have grown in need too. While the program has been temporarily paused, we are exploring our options so that these resources continue to reach New Yorkers in need.”

{Matzav.com}

Barron Trump has increasingly withdrawn from public view as threats against the first family and a series of violent attacks surrounding President Trump have created an extraordinary security environment for the president’s youngest son, according to people familiar with his lifestyle, the NY Post reports.

“He doesn’t go out,” one longtime Trumpworld figure told The Post of the 20-year-old Barron, who recently completed his sophomore year at New York University and has spent much of the summer with his mother, first lady Melania Trump, at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey.

“The kid’s pretty reclusive,” added another source.

The heightened caution comes after President Trump survived at least three assassination attempts or attacks since July 2024. He was shot and wounded during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania; was targeted by a would-be assassin at his West Palm Beach golf course in September 2024; and was present at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner when a gunman attacked the event on April 25 of this year.

Barron himself has also become the subject of threats from abroad. Iranian hardliners recently released a video titled “Where to kill Barron Trump,” which purported to track his movements, while a $10 million bounty was placed on him. Melania Trump has likewise been targeted in threats from Iranian hardliners and was with the president at the correspondents’ dinner in April.

Another event that reportedly had a profound impact on Barron was the September 2025 assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, with whom the first son had developed a close relationship.

“This is what happens when you go out there,” Barron told his father as he informed the president about Kirk’s death, according to an account first published by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan in their book Regime Change and subsequently confirmed by The Post.

Amid the security concerns, the Office of the First Lady asked the media to respect Barron’s privacy. The office told The Post that “in light of recent threats” the East Wing requested that “any details concerning his private life be excluded from all coverage.”

Melania Trump has long been particularly protective of her only son.

That concern was evident in early 2022, when President Trump was out of office and Barron was approaching his 16th birthday. Under the circumstances, Barron was scheduled to lose his Secret Service protection when he turned 16 that March.

Melania intervened, directing her office to contact the White House and ask then-President Joe Biden to extend Barron’s Secret Service detail. Biden quickly approved the request, according to a former official in his administration.

The first lady also offered a glimpse into Barron’s preference for privacy in her self-titled documentary about the period leading up to President Trump’s second inauguration in January 2025.

“I know Barron won’t go out. And I respect that,” Melania told Secret Service personnel as they discussed whether the first family would walk along Pennsylvania Avenue during the inaugural parade. The parade was ultimately moved indoors because of the frigid weather.

Security specialists say the constant presence of protective personnel can itself make someone more conscious of possible threats. A protected individual might overhear agents discussing a potential danger or see travel arrangements suddenly altered because of a security concern.

“Barron is probably a lot more aware and a lot more astute, and a lot more conscientious in terms of the real dangers,” Dr. Azita Sayan, a therapist who has worked with adolescent trauma but has not treated Barron, told The Post.

“But reclusive doesn’t mean traumatized,” she added. “He’s protecting himself and making his friendships and his decisions privately rather than to have them be on display, which I think is developmentally healthy.”

Barron’s circumstances are not entirely unprecedented for children of presidents. Chelsea Clinton, who lived in the White House from age 12 until departing Washington for Stanford University in 1997, recently recalled deliberately spending time indoors to preserve some privacy for herself and her friends.

“If we were in the White House,” Clinton noted, “Secret Service didn’t need to be on the same floor as we were studying or talking about boys or whatever we were doing.”

Barron similarly has private areas available to him at each of his parents’ residences. He has his own suite at Mar-a-Lago and an entire floor at Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan. His White House room reportedly contains custom furniture constructed by the executive mansion’s carpentry shop to accommodate his 6-foot-9 frame.

Sources say that when Barron arrives at one of the family residences, he generally moves directly to his private quarters rather than lingering in areas where he might be seen.

“You don’t see him hanging around,” said one source in the first family’s orbit.

That approach contrasts sharply with the public profiles maintained by his older siblings. Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump play prominent roles in the family business, while Ivanka Trump frequently appears on social media and podcasts. They, along with Tiffany Trump, also routinely accompany their father at public events.

Those familiar with Barron describe him as intelligent and polite and say he has handled the intense scrutiny accompanying the Trump name and his father’s enormous public profile well.

His emerging professional interests also appear to point toward business rather than a future career in politics once he finishes his education.

Barron has already joined high school friends in launching an herbal energy-drink venture and has made investments in cryptocurrency. Unlike his niece Kai Trump, who actively uses social media to market and promote merchandise, Barron has generally preferred working behind the scenes.

“He doesn’t like the public eye so much, which I understand,” Kai said of Barron on Jake Paul’s podcast earlier this year.

Barron’s most recent public appearance came July 19, when the soccer fan accompanied President Trump and the first lady to the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina at MetLife Stadium, where the family watched the match from behind bulletproof glass.

A small piece of Lakewood Yeshiva history arrived at the recording desk of Bais Medrash Govoah this week: a physical cassette recording of a shiur delivered by Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler, son of the rosh yeshiva, Rav Aryeh Malkiel Kotler.

The cassette went on sale following Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur’s inaugural shiur at the yeshiva on Sunday, an event that drew considerable excitement as another generation of the Kotler family formally assumed a role in delivering shiurim at the institution founded by Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l.

In an era when virtually every shiur can be streamed, downloaded or played instantly from a phone, the continued production of actual cassette tapes at BMG may seem like a relic from another age. But the yeshiva continues producing them regularly for a very particular reason.

The rosh yeshiva, Rav Yeruchem Olshin, continues to listen to recorded shiurim using a personal Walkman and has not transitioned to newer digital devices. As a result, the recording operation at BMG maintains the old cassette format, producing physical tapes alongside the more modern means through which shiurim are distributed.

That longstanding practice took on added significance this week when Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur’s first shiur was transferred onto cassette and made available for purchase, creating a tangible recording of a milestone moment in the yeshiva’s history.

The shiur itself was delivered in BMG’s Bais Medrash Hayoshon, the Bendheim Bais Medrash, the original building that occupies a singular place in Lakewood’s history. It is the same bais medrash where Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur’s grandfather and namesake, Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler zt”l, delivered shiurim decades earlier. Rav Shneur Kotler succeeded his father, Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l, in leading BMG and served as its rosh yeshiva until his petirah in 1982.

During his younger years, Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur learned at Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Moshe of South Fallsburg. He subsequently traveled to Eretz Yisroel, where he became a talmid of Rav Yonason David, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Pachad Yitzchok, whom Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur considers his rebbi muvhak.

He later married Miriam Baddouch, daughter of Rav Shmuel Baddouch, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Lev Eliyohu of the Aram Soba community in Mexico.

Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur’s appointment comes amid a gradual introduction of a new generation of marbitzei Torah into BMG’s leadership. In recent years, sons and sons-in-law of the yeshiva’s roshei yeshiva have assumed positions delivering shiurim, including Rav Aharon Schustal, son of Rosh Yeshiva Rav Dovid Schustal; Rav Aharon Olshin, son of Rosh Yeshiva Rav Yeruchem Olshin; and Rav Yehoshua Abba Budel, son-in-law of Rosh Yeshiva Rav Yisroel Neuman.

On Sunday, Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur entered the Bais Medrash Hayoshon accompanied by the roshei yeshiva before beginning his inaugural shiur. He spoke on Maseches Bava Kamma, the masechta currently being learned in the yeshiva, addressing the sugya of “Toldoseihen kayotzei bahem.”

Now, days after the younger Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur delivered his first shiur there, the recording has joined the vast archive of Torah produced within those walls.

And fittingly for a yeshiva whose history stretches back generations, that newest chapter can still be purchased in one of the oldest formats around: a cassette tape.

{Matzav.com}

A viral dashcam video showing a vehicle allegedly backing into another car on the Belt Parkway ultimately unraveled a broader insurance-fraud operation, leading to prison sentences for two men accused of deliberately staging crashes on New York highways to collect insurance payouts.

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday that Jaime Huiracocha, 53, and Victor Murillo, 34, pleaded guilty for their involvement in the scheme.

Huiracocha was sentenced to between one and three years behind bars, while Murillo received a two-year prison sentence.

Prosecutors said the defendants orchestrated three staged collisions between August and October 2024. The scheme allegedly involved recruiting people to serve as passengers and obtaining borrowed vehicles that could be used in manufactured crashes, which were then followed by fraudulent insurance claims seeking substantial payouts.

The investigation was launched after Ashpia Natasha, 31, released dramatic dashcam footage of an encounter on the Belt Parkway. The video showed a silver Honda cutting in front of her vehicle before backing into it. The footage spread rapidly online and eventually attracted the attention of investigators.

“We started investigating the viral video and then backed up into these other two that we found out were the same players,” Katz said.

As investigators dug deeper, authorities said they uncovered two other staged collisions on the Nassau Expressway involving a 44-year-old woman and a 44-year-old man.

Although the individuals participating in the crashes varied, prosecutors said Murillo was a recurring figure in the operation and acted as the driver in the scheme.

Speaking at Thursday’s announcement, Hochul said New York is stepping up its campaign against automobile insurance fraud. Those efforts include the creation of a new task force involving multiple government agencies as well as the rebuilding of the state’s insurance fraud bureau.

Katz, meanwhile, warned that the investigation should serve as a message to others involved in staged accidents and fraudulent insurance claims.

She said prosecutors intend to pursue not only those who deliberately manufacture crashes, but also medical providers, attorneys and others who knowingly help facilitate fraudulent claims.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump lashed out at Fox News correspondent Jonathan Hunt and called on anchor Bret Baier to “straighten out his flunkies” after taking issue with the network’s reporting on the stalled U.S.-Iran diplomatic effort, insisting that Tehran — rather than Washington — is seeking negotiations and is “begging to make a deal.”

The unusually sharp criticism of Fox News came Thursday night after Hunt reported on “Special Report” that there had been no significant diplomatic breakthrough toward ending the six-month conflict with Iran and that no direct negotiations between Washington and Tehran were currently underway.

Trump responded in a post on Truth Social, a screenshot of which circulated widely.

“Jonathan Hunt of FoxNews did a particularly inaccurate report on the Failing Islamic Republic of Iran. I don’t want to meet, they do. In fact, they are begging to make a deal. Bret Baier should straighten out his flunkies, for a change! President DJT,” Trump wrote.

Trump followed that message with another brief post declaring, “Iran Is a Failing Nation!”

The president’s criticism prompted an immediate response from Baier, who addressed Trump’s post on the air and defended Hunt.

“First of all, Jonathan Hunt is not a flunky. He’s a great reporter,” Baier said. “Second of all, Mr. President, we didn’t say you wanted to meet. In fact, we played a soundbite that you didn’t want to meet, and there are no negotiations.”

Baier said the Fox report had instead discussed efforts by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to enlist international partners in increasing economic pressure on Tehran, as well as attempts by Gulf nations to convince Iranian leaders to make concessions.

“We said that Treasury Secretary Bessent is hoping to meet with G20 countries to increase the pressure on Iran, and that Gulf state allies, including Qatar, are inside Tehran trying to get Iran to agree to concessions,” Baier said. “That was what was said.”

Despite the dispute over the Fox report, Trump himself confirmed earlier Thursday that there are presently no direct negotiations with Tehran. He told reporters at the White House that his administration is focusing instead on ratcheting up economic pressure against the Iranian regime.

“We ‌don’t want to speak to them. We’re not looking to meet or anything,” Trump said.

The distinction Trump drew was that the absence of negotiations is a result of Washington’s lack of interest in talks on Tehran’s current terms — rather than a lack of Iranian interest in reaching an agreement. His Truth Social post asserted that Iranian officials are actively seeking a deal.

Trump has made similar claims in recent days. Earlier this month, as a 60-day U.S.-Iran agreement expired, Trump said Tehran wanted an agreement but remained unwilling to accept Washington’s conditions.

“They want to make a deal, but they’re not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary,” Trump said at the time.

The central issue, Trump said, remains Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“You understand that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they won’t have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

The president has repeatedly indicated that he feels little urgency to return to formal negotiations. In an interview this week with Al Jazeera, Trump said he was “not in a hurry” to resume talks and rejected the idea that he was operating under a deadline.

“I have no time schedule, none,” Trump said.

Trump also argued that the combination of American military and economic pressure has been “both effective,” describing Iran as suffering from “massive inflation” and saying its economy is “falling apart.” He additionally accused the Iranian government of “treating their people very badly, they are killing many, many protesters.”

The latest flare-up comes as the Trump administration increasingly shifts its emphasis toward economic warfare following months of military confrontation.

Bessent earlier this week announced “Operation Economic Outcast,” a campaign aimed at further isolating Iran financially and choking off sources of revenue available to the regime.

At the same time, the administration has made clear that the current pause in U.S. strikes does not mean military action has been taken off the table.

“By no means are we foreclosing using kinetic strikes anywhere in the Strait of Hormuz or around Iran,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said this week.

Trump had also said on Aug. 18 that there were “no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” while maintaining that the U.S. naval blockade remained in effect and asserting that the Strait of Hormuz was open and operating.

The president’s latest Truth Social post therefore did not announce the resumption of negotiations. Instead, it underscored his contention that Iran wants negotiations more urgently than the United States does — and opened a public dispute with Fox News over how the diplomatic stalemate was being portrayed.

For now, Washington and Tehran remain without formal negotiations, while the Trump administration continues to rely on economic pressure and the threat of renewed military action in an effort to force Iran to accept U.S. demands.

{Matzav.com}

Apple has agreed to pay $150,000 to resolve a federal religious-discrimination lawsuit brought over allegations that the company refused to accommodate a Jewish employee’s Shabbos observance and later fired him because of his religious practices, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Thursday.

The case involved a Jewish employee working at an Apple store in Reston, Virginia, who asked that his schedule allow him to remain off from Friday evening through Saturday evening so that he could properly observe Shabbos. According to the lawsuit, Apple rejected the request after implementing a new requirement that employees work on weekends.

The EEOC further alleged that the store manager who refused the requested religious accommodation subsequently terminated the employee in January 2024 because of his religion and in retaliation for complaints the employee had made about disparaging remarks concerning his faith and the refusal to accommodate his Shabbos observance.

“Accommodating an employee’s religious beliefs is not optional,” Debra Lawrence, the EEOC’s Philadelphia regional attorney, stated. “It is an obligation mandated by federal law in the absence of an undue hardship.”

The federal agency brought its lawsuit against Apple under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law bars employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of religion and requires reasonable accommodations for sincerely held religious beliefs and practices unless providing them would create an undue hardship for the employer. Title VII also protects employees against retaliation for raising complaints about religious discrimination.

As part of a consent decree that will remain in effect for two years, Apple agreed to pay the employee $80,000 in back wages along with another $70,000 in compensatory damages. The company must also revise its policies governing religious observance and provide employees with written explanations when requests for religious accommodations are rejected.

The agreement additionally requires Apple to provide training on religious accommodations and retaliation protections to relevant store managers and human-resources personnel. Apple will also be required to periodically report to the EEOC regarding denied religious-accommodation requests and complaints involving alleged religious discrimination.

“No employee should be forced to choose between their faith and their livelihood,” Mindy Weinstein, director of the EEOC’s Washington Field Office, stated. “The EEOC will continue to enforce federal laws protecting employees’ rights to religious accommodation.”

{Matzav.com}

The United Nations is facing fierce criticism after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock participated in a memorial ceremony honoring a UNRWA school principal who was later identified as a Hamas commander, with U.N. officials now refusing demands to retract the tribute or issue an apology.

The controversy stems from the U.N.’s annual memorial service in June honoring employees who had died during the preceding year. Guterres and Baerbock attended the ceremony, during which an “eternal flame” candle was lit and the names of 136 deceased U.N. workers were read aloud as a violin played.

Among those memorialized was Imad El Samhouri, who had served as a teacher and principal at UNRWA Preparatory Boys School B in Rafah before being killed in an Israeli airstrike in June 2025.

El Samhouri’s inclusion prompted outrage from U.N. critics, including Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon and U.N. Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer. They pointed to evidence that El Samhouri had been a Hamas leader despite having spent years working within the U.N. agency responsible for Palestinian refugees.

Neuer published evidence on X that he said demonstrated El Samhouri’s Hamas activities, including a “martyrdom video” showing the UNRWA employee dressed in military clothing and surrounded by weapons and grenades.

“We have chosen jihad as our path. Death in the cause of Allah is our highest aspiration,” El Samhouri said in the video. He also boasted about Hamas’s extensive tunnel system, which Israel says was built in part through resources diverted from humanitarian assistance, declaring that “the Zionist enemy never imagines we will emerge from beneath the ground.”

According to Neuer, El Samhouri also helped bring other Hamas operatives into UNRWA schools, creating a “network” that U.N. Watch says it has documented extensively even as the United Nations failed to detect it. Over the years, El Samhouri worked at multiple UNRWA facilities, placing him in contact with thousands of Palestinian children.

“Everyone in UNRWA Rafah knew about El Samhouri. He was a big man on campus, openly active with senior Hamas officials, including as scout for Hamas-linked athletic clubs,” Neuer noted, pointing to instances in which El Samhouri openly celebrated kidnappings and terrorist attacks.

Among the “athletic clubs” for which El Samhouri allegedly recruited was the Al-Qadisiyah Rafah Club, an organization funded by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Activities associated with the club reportedly included training Palestinian children in the use of firearms.

Neuer escalated his criticism in an Aug. 14 open letter to Guterres and Baerbock, urging them to “finally acknowledge that UNRWA is simply unwilling or unable to root out the terrorists who have taken over its schools.”

“Excellencies, how many UNRWA teachers must emerge from Hamas tunnels before you admit that the terrorists are not merely beneath UNRWA’s schools, but actually inside them? Excellencies, if an UNRWA children’s school principal emerging from Hamas tunnels does not compel you to confront the agency’s terrorist infiltration, what possibly will?” he wrote.

Neuer also pointed to remarks Guterres made at the memorial ceremony, when the secretary-general said it was “the privilege of my life” to have worked alongside those being honored, pledged to continue “carrying forward their work,” and said the deceased U.N. employees “made our world a better place.”

“Now that the man you praised has been exposed as a Hamas field commander, do you stand by those words? Is Imad El Samhouri’s work – the jihad, the terror tunnels, the indoctrination of children – the work you intend to carry forward?” Neuer asked.

“Will you retract your tribute, apologize to the victims of Hamas, and order an independent investigation into how a terrorist commander was allowed to run UNRWA schools for more than a decade?” he challenged Guterres and Baerbock.

Neuer concluded his letter by demanding both accountability and a broader investigation into possible terrorist connections among UNRWA personnel.

“We urge you to retract the tribute to Imad El Samhouri, apologize to the victims of Hamas, commission a genuinely independent investigation, and disclose the identities of every UNRWA employee found to have terrorist ties, as well as every supervisor and senior official who knew or should have known.

“There can be no immunity, impunity, or eternal flame for terrorists who infiltrate the United Nations.”

On Wednesday, however, Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the United Nations would neither retract the tribute nor apologize for El Samhouri’s inclusion. Dujarric repeatedly stressed that the list of individuals scheduled to be honored had been “shared with Israeli authorities,” and “no issues were raised.”

“If those allegations had been shared with us at the time through official channels, it would not have been included,” he said.

“What was said was said, and we’re now stating our position, which makes it clear, had we known and had we been told, his name would probably not have been included,” he said.

Neuer responded by sarcastically characterizing the U.N.’s position as an attempt to avoid responsibility for honoring El Samhouri.

“Yes, we honored a Hamas commander. No, we won’t apologize. No, we won’t correct it. And somehow, this is Israel’s fault,” Neuer sarcastically summarized the response from the United Nations.

Danon similarly blasted the U.N.’s handling of the revelations and its response to questions about El Samhouri.

“It is outrageous to watch the U.N. spokesperson struggle to clearly condemn the crimes committed by former UNRWA employees,” Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon responded.

“The U.N. spokesperson’s response reflects Secretary-General Guterres’ entire tenure: the organization has lost its moral compass. It is because of terrorists like Imad Youssif El Samhouri and others that Israel ended UNRWA’s operations in Israel,” Danon said.

{Matzav.com}

Dozens of Chareidi protesters blocked Route 443 near the Ofer Crossing on Friday following the arrest of a young Chareidi man who police say was caught driving a stolen vehicle and was subsequently found to be wanted for failing to report for military service.

The incident began when Border Police officers from the Yerushalayim perimeter unit and crossing security forces stopped a vehicle for inspection as it arrived at the Ofer Crossing along Route 443.

During the inspection, police said officers determined that the vehicle had been reported stolen.

The driver, an Ashdod resident in his 20s, was arrested at the scene. An additional check of his identity revealed that he was also listed as a military draft absentee.

News of the arrest quickly spread, and within a short time dozens of Chareidi protesters arrived at the area and began blocking Route 443 in protest over the young man’s detention.

Border Police forces and officers from the Shomron and Yehudah District were deployed to the scene in an effort to restore order and reopen the highway to traffic.

Meanwhile, police said the circumstances surrounding the alleged theft of the vehicle remain under investigation by the Modiin Illit police station.

{Matzav.com}

The Republican National Committee is threatening to take New Jersey election officials to court unless they turn over records detailing how noncitizens ended up on the state’s voter rolls and what steps have been taken to identify and remove ineligible registrants.

The RNC issued formal notices alleging violations of the National Voter Registration Act to New Jersey’s secretary of state as well as election officials in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Somerset and Union counties.

The committee is demanding documents concerning the removal of noncitizens, procedures used to verify citizenship and other efforts to maintain the accuracy of voter rolls. According to the RNC, the officials have until Sept. 15 to provide the requested information before potentially facing litigation.

“Democrat (Gov.) Mikie Sherrill admitted what the RNC already uncovered through public records requests: Noncitizens are on New Jersey’s voter rolls,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said in an RNC release. “Now, election officials are refusing to turn over records explaining how it happened.

“Voters deserve answers, and the RNC is putting officials on notice: Comply with the law, hand over the records or face legal action.”

The RNC said records obtained from Bergen County showed that 134 noncitizens were removed from New Jersey’s voter rolls between January 2023 and August 2026.

According to the committee, 91 of those registrations were connected to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.

Separately, Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s administration has acknowledged that a software problem at the MVC resulted in approximately 6,600 people being improperly registered to vote between June 2023 and June 2024, before Sherrill became governor.

State officials said roughly 5,100 of the individuals caught up in the error were subsequently taken off the voter rolls because there was no separate registration or attestation establishing their eligibility to vote.

Approximately 1,450 additional registrations were changed to rejected status and sent to county election officials for further examination.

According to the state, approximately 340 people who were newly registered as a result of the software problem ultimately cast ballots. Officials also identified roughly 220 people affected by the glitch who voted but had prior registrations or separate eligibility attestations indicating that they may have been legitimately registered.

Sherrill has said county election officials were instructed to resolve any outstanding cases ahead of the November election.

The governor has also accused the Trump administration of attempting to expand federal control over state voter rolls. She has opposed federal efforts to obtain nonpublic voter information, describing the effort as a “phishing expedition here in New Jersey.”

Sherrill’s office has said the state’s investigation into the MVC software failure is continuing.

A Florida grand jury has concluded that Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration “misappropriated” $10 million from a Medicaid settlement by directing the money to the Hope Florida Foundation, an organization closely associated with first lady Casey DeSantis.

According to a sealed grand jury report obtained by CBS News Miami, jurors determined that the transfer was “part of a sophisticated scheme to fund political activities.”

The $10 million originated from a $67 million settlement involving Centene, Florida’s largest Medicaid contractor. As part of the arrangement, $10 million was directed to Hope Florida in the form of a “donation.”

The money was purportedly intended to support what was described as “to be a community-based welfare program that serves as a cost-efficient alternative to government assistance programs.”

Instead, the grand jury found that the funds ultimately went to organizations involved in efforts to defeat a 2024 Florida ballot initiative that sought to legalize recreational marijuana.

According to the report, the $10 million was routed through the charity affiliated with Hope Florida before eventually being transferred to two nonprofit organizations that participated in the campaign opposing the marijuana measure.

Despite determining that the taxpayer money had been improperly used, the grand jury said it did not uncover enough evidence to pursue criminal charges against any individual.

“Despite our finding that the money was misappropriated, we find insufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally,” the report concluded. “Nobody will take responsibility for deciding the $10 million of taxpayer money would go to Hope Florida… or had any memory of who made it.”

The report also raised questions about the role of Sen. Ashley Moody, who was serving as Florida attorney general at the time. Although Moody was not called to testify before the grand jury, the report said she knew about the plan to redirect the money and “authorized” her then-chief deputy, John Guard, to execute the settlement agreement.

Moody, who was appointed by DeSantis to fill the Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is seeking election to the seat this year.

The grand jury also examined the involvement of DeSantis chief of staff James Uthmeier, concluding that he was “in a position of authority over those involved in settling.”

“Testimony identified him as having involvement in directing the money after it went to Hope Florida. Testimony also revealed that Mr. Uthmeier’s Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee, was the prime recipient of the majority of the $10 million taxpayer funds,” the grand jury wrote.

DeSantis has previously rejected scrutiny surrounding Hope Florida, characterizing investigations launched in 2025 as a politically motivated and “manufactured” effort to damage both him and his wife.

“It was all political,” DeSantis told reporters in 2025. “People smear what they fear. If Hope Florida represents a threat to their world view, they’re going to go after it.”

{Matzav.com}

Russia warned that British military installations could become targets both inside and outside Ukraine if Kyiv continues using long-range British weapons to attack sites deep within Russian territory, escalating Moscow’s threats against London over its military support for Ukraine.

The warning followed Russian accusations a day earlier that Ukrainian forces used British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles to strike a shopping center in Russian-controlled Donetsk, leaving several civilians, including children, wounded.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Britain of moving dangerously close to direct legal responsibility for attacks Moscow characterizes as terrorism against civilians. She said London was “one step away” from such complicity and warned of “catastrophic consequences” if Britain maintains its current policy, according to Reuters.

“We have repeatedly warned that any British military installations and equipment in Ukraine and beyond its borders could be targeted in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory carried out using British weapons,” Zakharova said at a news briefing in Moscow.

Zakharova called on the British government to “immediately, in the most resolute and unequivocal manner, abandon the hostile, aggressive line” and warned that continued escalation could push the confrontation to an “entirely new level.”

The Russian threat came days after British Prime Minister Andy Burnham traveled to Ukraine for the country’s Independence Day on Aug. 24. During the visit, Burnham announced that a defense contractor could disclose classified information concerning British components incorporated into the long-range SCALP cruise missile as Ukraine and France work toward establishing assembly lines for the weapon in Ukraine, according to the British government.

The SCALP is France’s version of Britain’s Storm Shadow cruise missile and has a range exceeding 155 miles, allowing Ukrainian forces to hit targets far beyond the immediate front lines.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov accused London of “participating in the war” and “pouring fuel on the fire.”

Britain, however, made clear that Moscow’s threats would not cause it to retreat from its support for Kyiv. A Ministry of Defense spokesperson told Reuters that the United Kingdom remained “shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine and would continue supplying Kyiv with the equipment necessary “to defend itself against (President Vladimir) Putin’s illegal invasion.”

“Russia should be in no doubt about the resolve of this government to stand against Russian aggression in Ukraine and against the U.K. and our allies,” the spokesperson said.

Burnham also responded directly to Moscow while visiting Kyiv, denouncing Russia’s “outrageous threats” and declaring that Britain would remain committed to supporting Ukraine.

The latest confrontation follows a separate Russian warning issued to Britain on Aug. 17, when Moscow said London would pay a “price” after The Times reported that British-made drones supplied to Ukraine had been used for the first time to attack military and industrial sites inside Russia.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense has not confirmed whether the drones used in those attacks were British-made.

Zakharova’s latest warnings came as President Donald Trump expressed little concern that the conflict could expand into a direct Russian attack against NATO. Trump told Axios in a telephone interview Thursday that he was not worried about Moscow attacking a member of the alliance.

Meanwhile, amid the increasingly sharp public exchanges between Russia and the West, Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, confirmed Thursday that he met with CIA Director John Ratcliffe in Moscow earlier this week, according to Reuters.

Naryshkin characterized his discussions with Ratcliffe as routine and said the two intelligence chiefs addressed matters falling within the responsibilities of their respective agencies.

Trump likewise played down the significance of Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow, describing the trip as “semi-routine,” according to Axios.

President Donald Trump placed himself alone at the pinnacle of American presidential history Thursday, sharing a ranking on Truth Social that labels him “The Greatest” while relegating several Democratic presidents to the lowest category and omitting nearly a dozen other commanders in chief altogether.

The graphic sorts presidents into six classifications: “The Greatest,” “Great,” “Near Great,” “Average,” “Below Average,” and “Failures.” Trump is the only president appearing in the highest tier.

The chart appears to have been adapted from a presidential ranking published by LIFE magazine in 1948, which was based on assessments from 55 experts in American history. Much of the original list and its omissions remain intact, but Trump’s version adds three more recent Democratic presidents to the “Failures” category, places another Democratic president in the “Average” group and installs Trump by himself at the very top.

The “Great” category features Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson.

The next tier, “Near Great,” consists of Theodore Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland, John Adams and James K. Polk.

Presidents classified as “Average” are Bill Clinton, John Quincy Adams, James Monroe, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Madison, Martin Van Buren, William Howard Taft, Chester A. Arthur, William McKinley, Andrew Johnson, Herbert Hoover and Benjamin Harrison.

Trump’s “Below Average” group includes John Tyler, Calvin Coolidge, Millard Fillmore, Zachary Taylor, James Buchanan and Franklin Pierce.

At the bottom of the chart, the “Failures” category includes Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Ulysses S. Grant, Warren G. Harding and Jimmy Carter.

A number of presidents do not appear anywhere on the graphic. Those omitted are William Henry Harrison and James A. Garfield, both of whom died shortly after assuming office, as well as Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

Trump had invoked the younger Bush just a day earlier in another Truth Social post, sharing an image contrasting their presidential records. The graphic placed Bush alongside a sign reading “Mission Not Accomplished 2001-2021,” while Trump appeared above a separate message declaring “Mission Accomplished 2026.”

The post appeared intended to portray Trump’s war in Iran as a successful military campaign while contrasting it with the two-decade U.S. war in Afghanistan, which began under George W. Bush following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Trump also offered some decidedly less formal presidential rankings in July while appearing on Second Lady Usha Vance’s podcast and reading the children’s book Presidents Play! He described Lyndon B. Johnson as a “tough cookie,” called Ronald Reagan “high quality,” and referred to George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush collectively as “the Bushies.” All four are missing from the ranking Trump posted Thursday.

Trump also poked fun at William Howard Taft, whom the new chart places in the “Average” category. Noting Taft’s distinction as the heaviest U.S. president, Trump joked, “I have to be careful, ’cause I don’t want to supersede his record.”

{Matzav.com}