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The Hamas terror organization launched a long-range rocket from Khan Younis at Rishon L’Tzion on Sunday evening, triggering sirens, the first time since January that a siren was heard in the area. The rocket exploded in an open area and Baruch Hashem did not cause injuries or property damage. Hamas later took responsiblity for the launch, claiming that it attacked Tel Aviv. One woman was lightly injured from a fall as she was running for shelter and was treated at the scene by MDA paramedics. On Sunday morning, the IDF carried out an airstrike, destroying the launcher and a Hamas terror base nearby. Secondary explosions were heard after the attack on the launcher, indicating the presence of additional rockets in the launcher. The IDF said on Sunday morning that IDF forces in the Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah area eliminated dozens of terrorists in the past day. Additionally, forces in southern and central Gaza killed dozens of terrorists in Rafah and in the Netzarim Corridor. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

The Iraqi terror group Kata’ib Hezbollah, which is heavily supported by Iran’s IRGC Quds Force, was recently involved in terror plots against Jewish targets in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, Iran International reported. The Kata’ib Hezbollah terror group, which abducted Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkiov last year, is an Iraqi Shia militia formed in 2007 which is also known as Hezbollah Brigades. The group recently expanded its operations to Syria, where it has joined other Iranian-back militias in fighting for Basher Al-Assad’s regime, and now in Central Asia. Sources told Iran International that Kata’ib Hezbollah has been involved in terror activities in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan via a Tajik operative named Muhammad Ali Burhanov. Recent terror plots in Central Asia linked to Burhanov and his operatives include a failed gunfire attack on the Jewish Agency offices in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and attempted arson attacks at two other targets in Almatry: the Ohr Avner Jewish Center and a warehouse owned by Neostream Co., and one in Uzbekistan, a farm owned by Saxovat Broyler Co. in the city of Tashkent. There is a population of over 10,000 Jews in Uzbekistan, with the largest community in Tashkent, the capital and largest city, and about 2,500 Jews in Kazakhstan, mainly in Almatry, its largest city. The involvement of Burhanov and his operatives in Central Asia is backed by  IRGC Quds Force’s Department 400, with direct involvement from senior officials The militia’s operations were first reported by Terror Alarm on X earlier this month. Earlier this month, the IDF ordered all off-duty IDF soldiers in Azerbaijan and Georgia to immediately return to Israel amid fear of  Iranian retaliatory attacks against Israeli targets in those countries. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

The Taliban’s new vice and virtue laws that include a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public provide a “distressing vision” for Afghanistan’s future, a top U.N. official warned Sunday. Roza Otunbayeva, who heads the U.N. mission in the country, said the laws extend the “ already intolerable restrictions ” on the rights of women and girls, with “even the sound of a female voice” outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers last Wednesday issued the country’s first set of laws to prevent vice and promote virtue. They include a requirement for a woman to conceal her face, body and voice outside the home. The laws empower the Vice and Virtue Ministry to be at the front line of regulating personal conduct and administering punishments like warnings or arrest if its enforcers allege that Afghans have broken the laws. “After decades of war and in the midst of a terrible humanitarian crisis, the Afghan people deserve much better than being threatened or jailed if they happen to be late for prayers, glance at a member of the opposite sex who is not a family member, or possess a photo of a loved one,” Otunbayeva said. The mission said it was studying the newly ratified law and its implications for Afghans, as well as its potential impact on the U.N. and other humanitarian assistance. Taliban officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the U.N. criticism. In remarks broadcast Sunday by state-controlled broadcaster RTA, Vice and Virtue Minister Mohammad Khaled Hanafi said nobody had the right to violate women’s rights based on inappropriate customs. “We are committed to assure all rights of women based on Islamic law and anyone who has a complaint in this regard will be heard and resolved,” he added. Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said last year that Afghan women are provided with a “comfortable and prosperous” life, in spite of decrees barring them from many public spaces, education and most jobs. The U.N. has previously said that official recognition of the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan is nearly impossible while restrictions on women and girls remain. Although no country recognises the Taliban, many in the region have ties with them. Last Wednesday, the United Arab Emirates accepted the credentials of the Taliban’s ambassador to the oil-rich Gulf Arab state. A UAE official said the decision reaffirmed the government’s determination to contribute to building bridges to help Afghans. “This includes the provision of humanitarian assistance through development and reconstruction projects, and supporting efforts that work towards regional de-escalation and stability.” Otunbayeva is scheduled to report to the U.N. Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan on Sept. 18, three years after the Taliban stopped girls’ education beyond sixth grade. Acting Higher Education Minister Nada Mohammed Nadim said religious scholars were researching female education and it was their findings that would determine if schools and universities will reopen. “Nobody should make himself a cleric or tell us if education is permitted for women,” he told a news conference in Kabul on Sunday. “We have proven that any decision won’t be against Islamic law or Afghan culture. This is a very sensitive issue so deciding in weeks or months is not possible. We can’t say exactly that, on this […]

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman This article was printed l’ilui Nishmas the author’s mother, Sara bas HaRav Eliyahu a”h, whose 17th yartzeit is today, It was Adar, and some of the kids incorrectly took the notion of Mishenichnas Adar Marbin b’Simcha – to an extreme. One of them had pulled the fire alarm. The bells sounded, the fire department came, and – needless to say, the school got a firm warning about the matter. The reaction from the hanhala was fast and furious. “Any person that knows who did it – must come forward. If not – the entire school will be punished.” The students called parents. Parents went into action, and a local and powerful Rav protested. “How could the school do such a thing? It is lashon Harah. The students may not tell.” BEIS DIN AND LASHON HARAH The Chofetz Chaim in his Be’er Mayim Chaim 31 writes that a Beis Din may ask of people questions that would appear to be lashon hara in order for a beis din to get to the truth – to show that an action may have been properly done.  But does this also apply to a school or is it just limited to a Beis Din? MEMBER OF EIDA CHAREIDIS’ VIEW Rav Chaim Yehuda Kohain, a Moreh Horaah of the Eida HaChareidis in Kol HaTorah vol 54 Nissan 5763 – does extend it to a school as well.  He rules that a school or a Rebbe is permitted to ask questions that will elicit answers to find out who did something.  They should, of course, explain that it is for a benefit and therefore not to be considered lashon HaRah. RAV MOSHE FEINSTEIN’S VIEW Presumably, the Rav in the aforementioned story based himself on no less an authority than Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l. On November 14th, 1966, Rav Moshe wrote a letter, (Igros Moshe YD II #103), as a response to an inquiry from a Mechanech at the Eitz Chaim School in Toronto, Canada, Rabbi Yisroel Yitzchok Cohen.  A second letter (printed in one of the newer Igros Moshe – YD IV #30) written on June 12th, 1981 to Rabbi Meir Monk, further clarified his position. He writes in the first responsum: And in the matter of whether a teacher may ask of the students if they know who did this negative thing that they should inform him – this is an ugly thing to do.  For it causes them to take lashon harah lightly.  And even if the comparison to that which Hashem said to Yehoshua (Sanhedrin 43), “And am I a talebearer to you?” is not comparable.  For there, it will become known through the Gorel and the punishment will be fulfilled.  Whereas here, it is possible that it will not become known.  Therefore, if the purpose of it was for the intent of Tochacha for the right purpose, i.e. through this they will be punished and improve themselves, it would possibly have been permitted. We find something similar in Eirachin (16b), where Rabbi Yochanan Ben Nuri says, ‘Many times did Rabbi Akiva get punished on account of me before Rabbi Gamliel Barebbe.’ This was Tochacha lishma – with the correct intentions, and it was necessary that Rabbi Gamliel be made aware of it.  This is also certainly true regarding […]

Five-time former Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss, who served during some of the most tumultuous years of his country’s modern history, died Sunday at age 94, the current premier said. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati described Hoss, who was also a former government minister and member of parliament, as the “conscience of Lebanon” in a statement announcing his death. He added that Hoss “passed away at the most difficult and delicate stage in which Lebanon needs its conscience.” Mikati was referring to fears that Lebanon could be pulled into a full-on war with Israel. Lebanese militant group Hezbollah began attacking Israel a day after the start of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel. Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost daily since then, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border. Hoss “was a prominent economist and a role model for his expertise, ethics and knowledge,” Mikati said. “He placed the country’s supreme interest and the interest of citizens above all considerations.” Hoss was often described as a technocrat and widely respected as a rare statesman in a country marked by political and sectarian divisions. He served as prime minister for four terms during the country’s 15-year civil war that lasted from 1975 to 1990. His final term in office was from 1998 to 2000. At one point, he presided over one of two dueling governments. After the term of President Amin Gemayel ended in 1988 with no successor elected, Lebanon became ruled by two governments, one headed by Michel Naim Aoun in Christian east Beirut and another by Hoss in Muslim west Beirut. By convention the prime minister of Lebanon is always a Sunni Muslim, the president a Maronite Christian and the speaker of Parliament a Shiite Muslim. (AP)

A US defense official has revealed that the United States provided intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) support to Israel in tracking the recent barrage of rockets and drones launched by Hezbollah. However, the official emphasized that the US was not involved in Israel’s preemptive strikes in Lebanon or in shooting down incoming projectiles. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said, “The US was not involved in Israel’s preemptive strikes last night. We did provide some ISR support in terms of tracking incoming Lebanese Hezbollah attacks, but did not conduct any kinetic operations as they were not required.” The official added that the US continues to closely monitor the situation and remains prepared to support Israel’s defense against attacks by Iran and its proxies. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) urged Israel on Sunday to make a bold threat against Iran, suggesting that Israel should target Iran’s oil refineries if Hamas does not soon release the remaining hostages from its October 7 terrorist attack.

“I think we got to remember that the October 7th attack was generated, in my view, to stop normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel. It’s a nightmare for Iran and her proxies, for the Arabs and Israelis to reconcile and make peace and take the region in a different direction,” Graham stated during a CNN interview. He added that Iran should be held accountable for the condition of the hostages.

Graham proposed that Israel should make it clear to Iran’s leadership that if the hostages are not returned safely and the bodies of the deceased are not recovered, Israel would retaliate by destroying Iran’s oil refineries. “That’s the only way you’re ever going to get the hostages released is to put pressure on Iran,” he asserted.

As a long-time advocate for Israel, Graham has been vocal in his support. He recently criticized the Biden administration, suggesting that any delay in US military aid to Israel would be a reward for Hamas’s tactics, which put civilians in harm’s way.

Graham has also been a strong critic of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In March, he declared that the organization is “dead to the Congress” and “dead to the United States.”

In November, Graham issued a stern warning to Iran, cautioning against further involvement in the Israel-Hamas conflict: “Iran, if you escalate this war, we’re coming for you.”

His remarks came shortly after Israel conducted a preemptive strike in Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah from targeting key sites within Israel.

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu spoke about the strike at the beginning of the Cabinet meeting, stating, “What happened today is not the end of the story. Hezbollah tried this morning to attack the State of Israel with rockets and UAVs. We order the IDF to carry out a powerful preventative attack to remove the threat.”

Netanyahu emphasized the effectiveness of Israel’s response, saying, “We are striking Hezbollah with surprising crushing blows. Three weeks ago, we eliminated its military chief and today we foiled its attack plans. Nasrallah in Beirut and Khamenei in Tehran must know that this is another step to change the situation in the north and to bring our residents home safely. And I reiterate- this is not the end of the story.”

{Matzav.com}

The founder and CEO of the messaging service Telegram was detained at a Paris airport on an arrest warrant alleging his platform has been used for money laundering, drug trafficking and other offenses, French media reported Sunday. Pavel Durov, a dual citizen of France and Russia, was taken into custody at Paris-Le Bourget Airport on Saturday evening after landing in France from Azerbaijan, according to broadcasters LCI and TF1. Investigators from the National Anti-Fraud Office, attached to the French customs department, notified Durov, 39, that he was being placed in police custody, the broadcasters said. Durov’s representatives couldn’t be immediately reached for comment. French prosecutors declined to comment on Durov’s arrest when contacted by The Associated Press on Sunday, in line with regulations during an ongoing investigation. French media reported that the warrant for Durov was issued by France at the request of the special unit at the country’s interior ministry in charge of investigating crimes against minors. Those include online exploitation, such as possession and distribution of child abuse content. Telegram was founded by Durov and his brother in the wake of the Russian government’s crackdown after mass pro-democracy protests that rocked Moscow at the end of 2011 and 2012. The demonstrations prompted Russian authorities to clamp down on the digital space, adopting regulations that forced internet providers to block websites and cellphone operators to store call records and messages that could be shared with security services. In the increasingly repressive environment, Telegram and its pro-privacy rhetoric offered a convenient way for Russians to communicate and share news. In 2018, Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor moved to block Telegram over its refusal to hand over encryption keys, but ultimately failed to fully restrict access to the app. Telegram continued to be widely used — including by government institutions — and the ban was dropped two years later. In March 2024, Roskomnadzor said that Telegram was working with the Russian government to a certain extent and had removed more than 256,000 posts with prohibited content at Roskomnadzor’s request. Telegram also continues to be a popular source of news in Ukraine, where both media outlets and officials use it to share information on the war, and deliver missile and air raid alerts. In a statement posted on its platform, Telegram said it abides by EU laws including the digital services act, and its moderation is “within industry standards and constantly improving.” Durov, the company added, “has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe.” “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” Telegram’s post said. “Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as means of communication and as a source of vital information. We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all.” A French judicial official suggested that Durov could appear before a judge later Sunday to determine whether he will remain in custody. The official wasn’t authorized to be named publicly during an ongoing investigation. “If the person concerned is to be brought before a judge today, it is only in the context of the possible extension of his police custody measure — a decision that must be taken and notified by an investigating judge,” the official said. Western governments have often criticized Telegram for lack of […]

Legendary New York Yankees player Babe Ruth is breaking records even in death as one of his jerseys just sold for $24.12 million at auction. The jersey in question is the one Ruth sported during game 3 of the 1932 World Series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

People reports that during the game, Ruth famously gestured to the crowd that he would hit a home run right before he actually hit one. The moment is known as his “called shot.”

The auction was held by Heritage Auctions, which previously sold what is now the second-highest valued item in sports: a 1952 Mickey Mantle Topps card that brought in $12.6 million in 2022. Chris Ivy, the Director of Sports for the auction house, said in a press release, “It has been an honor and a privilege to work with this incredible piece of American history, and I am proud that it will now be part of one of the finest private collections in the world.” The item was last sold for $940,000 by a collector in 2005.

Read more at People.

Another country is expected to attack Israel within days, the BBC reported on Sunday. The report comes after the IDF thwarted a massive Hezbollah attack on Israel from Lebanon early Sunday morning. According to the report, which quoted an anonymous security source, it’s believed that an attack will be carried out by the Houthis in Yemen. Last month, Israel carried out airstrikes against multiple Houthi targets in the Hodeidah port area in western Yemen, targeting oil refineries, a power plant, and weapon warehouses, killing and wounding dozens. The attack was in retaliation for the Houthis’ launch of a drone that struck Tel Aviv on July 18, killing one and wounding eight others, and about 220 previous attempts to attack Israel since October 7. The Houthis have vowed to retaliate for the Israeli attack. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A 26-year-old man has turned himself into police, saying he was responsible for the Solingen stabbing attack that left three dead and eight wounded at a festival marking the city’s 650th anniversary, German authorities announced early Sunday. Duesseldorf police said in a joint statement with the prosecutor’s office that the man “stated that he was responsible for the attack.” “This person’s involvement in the crime is currently being intensively investigated,” the statement said. Federal prosecutors said they were investigating on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and membership in a foreign terrorist organization. The suspect was to make a first appearance before a judge later Sunday. The suspect is a Syrian citizen who had applied for asylum in Germany, police confirmed to The Associated Press. The dpa news agency reported, without citing a specific source, that his asylum claim had been denied and that he was to have been deported last year. On Saturday, the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, without providing evidence. The extremist group said on its news site that the attacker targeted Christians and that the perpetrator carried out the assaults Friday night “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.” The claim couldn’t be independently verified. Friday’s attack plunged the city of Solingen into shock and grief. A city of about 160,000 residents near the bigger cities of Cologne and Duesseldorf, Solingen was holding a “Festival of Diversity” to celebrate its anniversary. People alerted police shortly after 9:30 p.m. local time Friday that a man had assaulted several people with a knife on the city’s central square, the Fronhof. The three people killed were two men aged 67 and 56 and a 56-year-old woman, authorities said. Police said the attacker appeared to have deliberately aimed for his victims’ throats. The festival, which was due to have run through Sunday, was canceled as police looked for clues in the cordoned-off square. Instead, residents gathered to mourn the dead and injured, placing flowers and notes near the scene of the attack. “Warum?” asked one sign placed amid candles and teddy bears. Why? Among those asking themselves the question was 62-year-old Cord Boetther, a merchant fron Solingen. “Why does something like this have to be done? It’s incomprehensible and it hurts,” Boetther said. Officials had earlier said a 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion he knew about the planned attack and failed to inform authorities, but that he was not the attacker. Two female witnesses told police they overheard the boy and an unknown person before the attack speaking about intentions that corresponded to the bloodshed, officials said. The attack comes amid debate over immigration ahead of regional elections next Sunday in Germany’s Saxony and Thueringia regions where anti-immigration parties such as the populist Alternative for Germany are expected to do well. In June, Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed that the country would start deporting criminals from Afghanistan and Syria again after a knife attack by an Afghan immigrant left one police officer dead and four more people injured. The IS militant group declared its caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria about a decade ago, but now holds no control over any land and has lost many prominent leaders. The group is mostly out of global news headlines. Still, it continues to recruit members and claim […]

The Torah community is urgently requested to daven for Rav Avrohom Nesanel Zucker, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah Ohr Yisroel of Marine Park, Brooklyn, who is in critical need of rachamei Shomayim.

Rav Zucker sustained a severe head injury earlier today and is undergoing emergency surgery. The situation is critical, and Klal Yisroel is asked to daven on his behalf.

A special tefillah gathering is being held now at The Grove Shul at 151 Grove Circle in Fallsburg, NY.

Please daven for Avrohom Nesanel ben Masha Liba b’soch sha’ar cholei Yisroel.

{Matzav.com}

Senior Trump campaign official Cory Lewandowski describes how RFK Jr. is ‘very angry’ about how the Democrats manufactured a ‘coronation’ for Kamala.

After the IDF launched a preemptive attack on Hezbollah early Sunday morning after receiving intelligence indicating Hezbollah was planning to strike strategic facilities in northern and central Israel, Israelis from the north of the country are upset the government does not act in the same way to prevent strikes on northern Israel. With rockets raining down once again on towns across the Galil and Golan, some northern residents are saying: “We don’t count.”

In a joint statement, the heads of three northern Israeli regional councils announced they will sever contact with all government officials until the government provides a ‘full and complete solution’ for the residents and children of the northern border communities, which includes full security for the return of the evacuees from their homes, guaranteeing the safety of all residents and approval of an economic plan for the rehabilitation of the north. In the joint statement, Mateh Asher Regional Council head Moshe Davidovich, Metula Mayor David Azoulay, and Upper Galil Reginal Council Giora Zaltz said: “We haven’t interested you for 10 and a half months, and from now on, you don’t interest us. Don’t call, don’t come, don’t send messages. We have managed alone until now, we will manage.”

Zatlz emphasized that the fighting on Sunday had not solved the problem, saying: “Even if we destroyed 6,000 missiles, that’s only 3% of their [Hezbollah’s] capabilities. The threat is only growing,”

“The prime minister made northern residents feel bad this morning. In a week, we’re supposed to start the school year. We must find a way to restore security to the residents of the north.”

Dror Gavish, who was displaced from his home in Kibbutz HaGoshrim, said that northern residents feel invisible. “We need to see reality – they [the government] don’t really see us. The government operates solely according to what’s politically beneficial for them. The north’s neglect doesn’t incur political costs, so they’re at peace with it.”

“They won’t budge an inch until they pay a political price,” Gavish said. “Or, if you ask me, until they’re replaced by a government that will have to do a better job. But even those who don’t want to change the government need to understand that they won’t risk a full-scale war with Hezbollah and Iran unless they have a good political reason.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

Hurricane Hone passed just south of Hawaii on Sunday, dumping so much rain that the National Weather Service called off its red flag warnings that strong winds could lead to wildfires on the drier sides of the islands. Meanwhile, the eastern Pacific saw a new threat emerge as Tropical Storm Hector formed, packing top sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph). There were no coastal watches or warnings in effect as Hector churned far out at sea, the National Hurricane Center said. Hone (pronounced hoe-NEH) had top winds of 85 mph (140 kph) Sunday morning as it swirled slowly past the Big Island, centered about 45 miles (72 kilometers) off its southernmost point, according to Jon Jelsema, a senior forecaster at the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. He said tropical storm force winds were blowing across the island’s southeast-facing slopes, carrying up to a foot (30 centimeters) or more of rain. Floods closed Highway 11 between Kona and Hilo, and a higher-altitude alternative, the Cane Road, was closed by flooding as well, isolating properties like the Aikane Plantation Coffee Co. outside Pahala, where owner Phil Becker said his 10-inch (25-centimeter) rain gauge overflowed in the deluge. “We’ve got quite a lot of flood damage, the gulches are running full speed ahead and they’re overflowing the bridges, so we’re trapped down here, we can’t get in or out,” Becker said Sunday. Becker said his plantation is off the grid, powered with batteries charged by solar electricity, and his family is safe, so they have no reason to evacuate. The weather may even prove beneficial: “We’ve been in a drought situation so the coffee is probably loving all this rain,” he said. Hurricane Gilma, meanwhile, weakened to a still-major Category 3 hurricane Saturday night, but it was far east of Hawaii and forecast to weaken into a depression before it reaches the islands. Shelters were opened as Hurricane Hone blew in and beach parks on the eastern side of the Big Island were closed due to dangerously high surf, Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth said. Jelsema offered a vivid metaphor for the rainfall: “As the rain gets pushed up the mountain terrain it wrings it out, kind of like wringing out a wet towel,” he said. “It’s been really soaking those areas, there’s been flooding of roads. Roads have been cut off by high flood waters there in the windward sections of the big island, and really that’s the only portion of the state that’s had much flooding concern at this point,” he said. Hone, whose name is Hawaiian for “sweet and soft,” poked at memories still fresh of last year’s deadly blazes on Maui, which were fueled by hurricane-force winds. Red flag alerts are issued when warm temperatures, very low humidity and stronger winds combine to raise fire dangers. Most of the archipelago is already abnormally dry or in drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The Aug. 8, 2023, blaze that torched the historic town of Lahaina was the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, with 102 dead. Dry, overgrown grasses and drought helped spread the fire. Calvin Endo, a Waianae Coast neighborhood board member who lives in Makaha, a leeward Oahu neighborhood prone to wildfires, has worried for years about dry brush on private property behind his home. […]

After independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his campaign and endorsed Donald Trump on Friday, the Republican nominee pledged that if he’s elected to the White House, he will release all the documents related to the 1963 assassination of Kennedy’s uncle.

“This is a tribute in honor of Bobby,” Trump said at a Friday evening rally in the Phoenix area. “I will establish a new independent presidential commission on assassination attempts, and they will be tasked with releasing all of the remaining documents pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.”

For decades after the killing, many documents related to the event were withheld from the public, spurring conspiracy theories.

The Warren Commission, which was created a week after John F. Kennedy’s death in November 1963, said that gunman Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in Dallas. But others have continued to question whether Oswald worked with Soviet, Cuban or CIA agents. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a New York radio station last year that he believes the CIA was involved in his uncle’s murder.

Congress passed a law more than three decades ago intended to put to rest questions about the assassination by declassifying relevant records, but there remain more than 3,000 documents that still contain redactions, according to the National Archives and Records Administration, leaving some researchers puzzled.

– – –

When were the documents supposed to be released?

The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 declared that all the documents about the assassination should be made publicly available by October 2017. However, the law allowed U.S. officials to postpone the release of documents if they thought national security and privacy concerns outweighed the public interest in disclosure.

Roughly 320,000 documents were identified and slated to be declassified after the law passed.

The law was signed the year after the release of director Oliver Stone’s political thriller “JFK,” a fictional portrayal of a New Orleans district attorney who found evidence of a conspiracy behind Kennedy’s death.

– – –

What documents remain hidden?

U.S. officials have cited privacy and national security concerns multiple times for postponing the release of some documents.

When he was president in 2017, Trump announced that he planned to publicly disclose the remaining documents but ultimately delayed the release of some files for national security reasons, saying they would be released by October 2021. In 2018, Trump authorized the disclosure of 19,045 documents, many of which contained redactions.

In October 2021, President Joe Biden also postponed the planned release of the documents, citing delays prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Temporary continued postponement is necessary to protect against identifiable harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or the conduct of foreign relations that is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in immediate disclosure,” Biden said at the time.

Biden released more than 13,000 documents in the following years, but in June 2023, he announced that he had made his “final certification” on files to be released, transferring his power to disclose documents to U.S. agencies.

Gerald Posner, who wrote the 1993 Kennedy assassination book “Case Closed,” said he isn’t sure whether Trump will follow through on his promise if he’s elected in November.

“You had an opportunity to do it, you said you were going to do it, and you didn’t do it,” Posner said about Trump. “Now, with the RFK Jr. endorsement, maybe that’s a quid pro quo, and maybe this time he’ll actually do it.”

– – –

What revelations have been gleaned from documents released in recent years?

Tens of thousands of documents were released between 2018 and last year. The last large batch of released documents came in December 2022, when Biden disclosed 13,173 documents.

Jefferson Morley, the editor of the JFK Facts newsletter, said a few revelations have arisen from those releases. The documents showed that some CIA employees didn’t believe Oswald acted alone, Morley said, and a counterintelligence official tried to “wait out” the Warren Commission’s investigation by denying it information about Oswald.

Posner, however, said that many of the recently released documents haven’t revealed a smoking gun, and he doubts the remaining documents will either.

“Some of the biggest headlines that have been pulled from the JFK files the last four or five years are what I call tabloid stories about stories that were actually old,” Posner said.

Some of the documents released since 2022 shed light on Oswald’s actions in the months before the assassination. One document from June 1962 indicated that Oswald might have been on the CIA’s radar more than a year before Kennedy’s assassination. Another said the CIA intercepted a call Oswald made in October 1963 from Mexico City to the Soviet Embassy there, wanting someone in the building “to send a tele-gram for him to Washington.”

Last summer, a newly unredacted copy of a document named the CIA employee who intercepted Oswald’s mail before Kennedy’s murder.

– – –

What could we learn from the remaining files?

Morley and Posner said they believe the remaining documents might show that the CIA was aware of Oswald before the assassination.

Morley said the evidence released so far leads him to suspect Kennedy’s opponents in the CIA might’ve been working with Oswald and the remaining documents could prove or disprove that theory. Posner said he thinks Oswald acted alone and the remaining documents might show the CIA failed to report him to the FBI before the assassination.

A CIA spokesperson told The Washington Post in 2022 that the agency was not withholding information about Oswald or the assassination.

“CIA believes all substantive information known to be directly related to Oswald has been released,” the spokesperson said. “The few remaining redactions protect CIA employee names, sources, locations, and CIA tradecraft.”

Even if all the Kennedy documents are released, Posner said he doesn’t think the conspiracy theories will end.

“Let’s say it doesn’t add to any evidence of a conspiracy in the case,” Posner said about the unreleased information. “People believing in conspiracy will say, ‘Well, see, there you go. They destroyed the real documents.’”

Despite their differences about what they think happened on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas’s Dealey Plaza, both Posner and Morley hope to see the records fully released.

“Is there a smoking gun in there? You know, this is not about a smoking gun,” Morley said. “This is about the law that says all of the government’s JFK records should be made public by October 2017. We’re seven years past that blown deadline.”

(c) Washington Post

Two separate bus crashes hours apart in Pakistan on Sunday left at least 36 people dead and dozens more injured, officials said. The first happened when a bus carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims returning from Iraq through Iran fell from a highway into a ravine in southwest Pakistan, killing at least 12 people and injuring 32 others, police and officials said. The driver lost control on the Makran coastal highway when the brakes failed, while passing through Lasbela district in Baluchistan province, local police chief Qazi Sabir said. Authorities in Baluchistan said that arrangements were being made to send the bodies of the pilgrims to Punjab province for burial. Maryam Nawaz, the chief minister in Punjab, expressed her condolences after the crash. Hours later, 24 people were killed when a bus fell into a ravine in the Kahuta district of the eastern Punjab province, police and officials said, including two women and a child. Omar Farooq, a senior government official in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, said there were no survivors. Initially, local police said that there were seven injured, but later doctors and government officials said that everyone onboard the bus died in the crash. Raja Moazzam, a rescue official, said most of the bodies had been identified. According to residents, the bus crash happened early Sunday and locals initially took part in the rescue work, and ambulances of emergency service crews arrived later. The bus was heading to the Pakistan-administrated disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir — claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan — when it fell from the Panna bridge in the Kahuta district, said Sardar Waheed, a senior government official, adding that heavy machinery was used to lift the wreckage to ensure no one was trapped underneath. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in separate statements, offered their condolences and expressed sorrow over the two crashes. They asked authorities to ensure the provision of the best medical treatment for the injured pilgrims. The crashes on Sunday occurred days after 28 Pakistani pilgrims were killed in a bus crash in neighboring Iran while heading to Iraq. A Pakistani military plane flew the bodies of the victims home on Saturday to be buried in the southern Sindh province. Thousands of Shiites travel to Iraq’s holy city of Karbala to commemorate Arbaeen — Arabic for the number 40 — to mark the death of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein, who became a symbol of resistance during the tumultuous first century of Islam’s history. Bus crashes are common in Pakistan, mostly because of negligence by drivers, who often violate traffic rules. (AP)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Sunday that he is withdrawing his name from ballots in critical battleground states in an effort to undermine Vice President Kamala Harris’s chances in the upcoming presidential election. This development follows his decision on Friday to suspend his independent White House bid and endorse former President Donald Trump. Kennedy’s campaign, which had long been considered a longshot, has been marked by his criticisms of the Democratic Party, alleging that the primary process was rigged against him and voters. The announcement of his withdrawal from battleground states comes shortly after he petitioned to remove his name from the ballot in Pennsylvania, a key swing state. During an interview on Fox News Sunday with anchor Shannon Bream, Kennedy elaborated on his decision to back Trump and remove himself from ballots in crucial states where his presence could have hurt the former president’s chances. When asked if any negotiations took place regarding a potential position in a future Trump administration, Kennedy denied any formal commitments but acknowledged a meeting with Trump and his advisors. “There’s been no commitments,” Kennedy said. “But you know, I met with President Trump, with his family, with his close advisors, and we just made a general commitment that we were going to work together.” Bream further pressed Kennedy on the states where he intends to remove his name from the ballot, pointing out that these are critical swing states that Harris would need to secure the 270 electoral votes required for victory in November. Kennedy confirmed the strategy, saying, “They’re basically 10 swing states where my presence in the race would have helped Vice President Harris and would have harmed President Trump. So I’m going to get off the ballot in those states, and then we’re going to stay on the ballot in 30 states.” He emphasized that in states where his candidacy would not impact the election outcome, he will remain on the ballot and continue to encourage his supporters to vote for him. However, he reiterated that in states where he could act as a “spoiler” for Trump, he will step aside. Kennedy’s move could prove pivotal in a race where every vote counts, particularly in the swing states that often determine the outcome of U.S. presidential elections. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Rav Avrohom Zucker, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiv Gedola Ohr Yisroel in Flatbush is in dire need of Rachmei Shomayim, following an incident on Sunday afternoon. He is currently being taken into emergency surgery with a serious head injury. His name for Tehillim is Avrohom Nesanel ben Masha Leeba אברהם נתנאל בן מאשא לייבא.

Senator Lindsey Graham defended former President Donald Trump after CNN anchor Jake Tapper questioned whether Trump is intentionally undermining his own 2024 election campaign with attacks on prominent political figures, including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Vice President Kamala Harris. Tapper highlighted Trump’s recent controversial remarks, which included calling Shapiro an “overrated Jewish Governor” following the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and criticizing Harris and Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp. The CNN anchor floated the notion that these distractions might suggest Trump is deliberately sabotaging his chances in the upcoming election. “Last week, former President Trump tried to respond to some of what was going on at the convention,” Tapper said. “He went after Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as an ‘overrated Jewish Governor’ who should be supporting him because of Israel. He attacked Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp, and he called Vice President Harris lazy. What do you say to the analysis that this really is Donald Trump’s race to lose? But sometimes it looks like he’s trying to.” Graham, however, downplayed the impact of Trump’s rhetoric, instead steering the conversation toward policy issues and Trump’s work in repairing relationships with key Republican governors like Brian Kemp. “Well, I think the point is that he went to the border to talk about a broken border,” Graham said in defense of Trump. He also mentioned that the tensions between Trump and Kemp had been resolved, and that Kemp had come out strongly in support of Trump in Georgia. “If we don’t win Georgia, I don’t see how we get to 270. But I do believe, Georgia’s ours to lose.” Graham emphasized that focusing on policy is the key to winning the election, citing issues like inflation and rising costs under the current administration. “The truth of the matter is the policies of the last four years have been miserable failures,” Graham said, adding that the economic hardships faced by voters would drive them away from re-electing Democrats. When Tapper brought up Graham’s previous statement that Trump’s provocative behavior might hinder his chances in the election, Graham remained steadfast in his belief that policy would win the day. He also acknowledged Trump’s response to his critique, in which the former president said, “Look, I like Lindsey. I don’t care what he says.” Trump dismissed the criticism, asserting that his endorsement was key to Graham’s re-election in South Carolina. “Lindsey is my friend. But if I didn’t endorse him, he would have had no chance of getting elected,” Trump said. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)