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Watch former President Donal Trump’s full speech at the “Fighting Antisemitism” event in New Jersey last night.

New-home construction in the US fell in July to the lowest level since the aftermath of the pandemic as builders respond to weak demand that’s keeping inventory levels high.

Total housing starts decreased 6.8% to a 1.2 million annualized rate last month, dragged down the biggest decline in single-family units since April 2020, according to government data released Friday. A sizable decline in the South may have reflected the impact of Hurricane Beryl.

The overall starts figure was lower than all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The new-home industry has lost some of its luster in recent months after a strong start to the year, as a combination of still-high mortgage rates and prices scare off many prospective buyers. That’s boosted inventory to its highest levels since 2008 and spurred builders to scale back on construction.

Nonetheless, big builders like Lennar Corp. and PulteGroup Inc. especially have been able to win market share from their smaller counterparts – partly because they have access to cheaper capital – and have stoked sales by cutting prices and buying down customers’ mortgage rates.

Confidence among US home builders slipped for the fourth straight month to its lowest point of the year in August as the industry eagerly awaits the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates. Expectations of that happening as soon as next month have already pushed fixed 30-year mortgage rates down to around 6.5%, their lowest levels since May 2023.

However, traders are now dialing back bets of fast and steep rate cuts as data this week suggested the economy is far more resilient than markets have expected.

Building permits, which point to future construction, decreased 4% to a 1.4 million annual rate. Applications to build single-family homes eased to the lowest since May 2023, while authorizations for multifamily projects fell more than 11%.

Starts fell in three of four regions, including steep drops in the West and South, which dropped to the lowest level since May 2020.

The Commerce Department’s report also showed the number of completed single-family units rose to the highest level in three months and remains well-above the pre-pandemic trend.

The housing starts data are volatile, and the government report showed 90% confidence that the monthly change ranged from a 17.1% decline to a 3.5% gain.

(c) Washington Post

A Mexican drug lord who was arrested in the U.S. could be headed to trial in New York City, after prosecutors filed a request Thursday to move him from Texas. Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, known as a top leader and co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, faces charges in multiple U.S. locales. He and a son of notorious Sinaloa kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán were arrested last month after being flown into New Mexico. Zambada has said he was kidnapped in his home country en route to what he thought was a meeting with a Mexican official. Zambada, 76, has so far appeared in U.S. federal court in El Paso, Texas, which is in one of the jurisdictions where he has been indicted. He has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, drug conspiracy and other charges. Federal prosecutors in Texas asked a court Thursday to hold a hearing to take the procedural steps needed to move him to the New York jurisdiction that includes Brooklyn, where the elder Guzmán was convicted in 2019 of drug and conspiracy charges and sentenced to life in prison. If prosecutors get their wish, the case against Zambada in Texas would proceed after the one in New York. A message seeking comment was sent to Zambada’s attorneys. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn declined to comment. Zambada is charged there with running a continuing criminal enterprise, murder conspiracy, drug offenses and other crimes. Meanwhile, Joaquín Guzmán López, the “El Chapo” son arrested with Zambada, has pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges in a federal court in Chicago. Zambada ran the Sinaloa cartel with the elder Guzmán as it grew from a regional presence into a huge manufacturer and smuggler of illicit fentanyl pills and other drugs to the United States, authorities say. Considered a good negotiator, Zambada has been seen as the syndicate’s strategist and dealmaker, thought to be more involved in its day-to-day doings than the more flamboyant Guzmán. Keeping a lower profile, Zambada had never been behind bars until his U.S. arrest last month. He has often been at odds with Guzmán’s sons, dubbed the Chapitos, or Little Chapos. Fearful that Zambada’s arrest could trigger a violent power struggle within the cartel, the Mexican government quickly dispatched 200 special forces soldiers to the state of Sinaloa, and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador publicly pleaded with the cartel factions not to fight each other. (AP)

The past 48 hours of “intensive” negotiations between Israel and the Hamas terror organization in Doha, which would lead to a ceasefire and release of hostages, have been “serious and constructive and were conducted in a positive atmosphere,” the United States, Egypt and Qatar stated on Friday.

Washington presented a “bridging proposal” to Israel and Hamas on Friday, with “support” from Cairo and Doha, “that is consistent with the principles laid out by President Biden on May 31, 2024, and Security Council Resolution No. 2735,” the trio stated. “This proposal builds on areas of agreement over the past week, and bridges remaining gaps in the manner that allows for a swift implementation of the deal.”

In the coming days, the parties involved will work on “details of implementation, including arrangements to implement the agreement’s extensive humanitarian provisions, as well as specifics relating to hostages and detainees,” the three countries said. (By “detainees,” the three appeared to refer to jailed Palestinians, including those with blood on their hands, that Israel would release in a deal.)

Senior U.S., Egyptian and Qatari officials “will reconvene in Cairo before the end of next week with the aim to conclude the deal under the terms put forward today,” the three nations stated. “The path is now set for that outcome, saving lives, bringing relief to the people of Gaza and de-escalating regional tensions.”

Also on Friday, Lloyd Austin, the U.S. secretary of defense, spoke with Yoav Gallant, the Israeli minister of defense, per a Pentagon readout of the call.

The two “discussed regional instability and the growing risk of escalation from Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran-backed terrorist groups across the Middle East,” per the Pentagon. “Secretary Austin informed the minister that the United States continues to monitor attack planning from Iran and its proxies and is well-postured across the region to defend Israel and protect U.S. personnel and facilities.”

Gallant “raised the importance of ongoing discussions to achieve an agreement for the release of hostages” and “highlighted that the achievement of this agreement is both a moral imperative and a strategic, security priority,” per an Israeli readout of the call.

The two “discussed ongoing coordination in the defense of Israel and the deterrence of Iran and its regional proxies” and Gallant thanked Austin “for the powerful projection of U.S.-Israel ties and deployment of U.S. forces and capabilities to the region,” per the Israeli readout.

Gallant also thanked Austin for “his leadership and commitment to Israel’s security” and for “the recent approvals given for significant force build-up projects,” it stated.

(JNS)

Now that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is Vice President Kamala Harris ‘ running mate, his drunken driving arrest from 1995 in Nebraska — long before he entered politics — is getting renewed scrutiny. Walz was a 31-year-old teacher when he was stopped the night of Sept. 23, 1995, near Chadron, Nebraska. He pleaded guilty in March 1996 to a reduced charge of reckless driving. Here’s a look back at what happened, and the aftermath as Walz embarked on a political career a decade later, and last week joined the Democratic presidential ticket: The case According to court records, a Nebraska state trooper clocked Walz going 96 mph in a 55-mph zone. The trooper wrote that he detected a strong smell of alcohol on his breath. Walz failed field sobriety and preliminary breath tests. He was taken to a hospital for a blood test and was booked into the Dawes County Jail. A transcript of his plea hearing on March 13, 1996, quotes the prosecutor as saying his blood test showed an alcohol level of 0.128%, compared with a legal limit of 0.10%. Walz’s attorney told the court Walz thought someone was chasing him because the trooper came up fast and didn’t turn on his red lights right away. The defense attorney acknowledged that Walz had been drinking but argued for a fine, saying his blood alcohol level was “relatively low.” He also noted that Walz was a teacher at a local high school and “felt terrible about this, was real disappointed, I guess, in himself.” He said Walz reported the incident to his principal, resigned from his coaching position and offered to quit his teaching job “because he felt so bad.” He said the principal talked him into staying on as a teacher, and that Walz was now telling students about what happens if one gets caught for drinking and driving. Walz lost his license for 90 days and was fined $200. Walz has said he quit drinking alcohol after his arrest. He now prefers Diet Mountain Dew. The incident surfaces A Republican blogger surfaced some court documents in 2006 when Walz made his first run for Congress, in which he ultimately upset incumbent Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht. A few news outlets in the southern Minnesota district did stories, but it didn’t become a big issue in that campaign. It went largely forgotten until Walz ran for governor in 2018, when it got a mention in a broader profile by the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. He told the newspaper it was a gut-check moment, and an impetus to change his ways. His wife, Gwen, recalled to the newspaper that she told him: “You have obligations to people. You can’t make dumb choices.” Distortions The arrest resurfaced again after Harris picked Walz last week, and Republicans and media outside Minnesota started taking a closer look at his past. The main revelation was that Walz campaign staffers in 2006 gave misleading information to the few news outlets that wrote about it at the time. His campaign manager told the Post-Bulletin of Rochester that he was not drunk. She said Walz couldn’t understand what the trooper was saying to him because he had a hearing loss from his service in an artillery unit in the National Guard, and suggested that he might have had balance issues as […]

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­   TO SUBMIT NAMES FOR FREE TO AMUKA, CLICK HEREVISIT TuBavTogether.com CALL 1-718-690-2944 Klal Yisrael will davening for one another beginning at 10am on Monday Aug 19 – reciting 8 specific kapitlach of Tehillim.📖Click here to download the FREE Artscroll Tehillim ​ There will be 2 LIVE EVENTS There will be 2 Live Events with Rabbonim & Musical performances to watch online at www.TuBavTogether.com ​ SUNDAY 8/18 @ 7:00 pm EST: FREE LIVE MUSIC EVENT & INSPIRATION WITH RABBONIM AND MUSICAL PERFOMANCES ​ MONDAY 8/19 @ 10:00 am EST: LIVE TEFILLAH EVENT WITH LEADING RABBANIM — SAY TEHILLIM TOGETHER WITH KLAL YISRAEL! WATCH LIVE AT TUBAVTOGETHER.COM ​  At the same time as Klal Yisrael davens, each in their part of the world, there will be a minyan of Talmidei Chachamim in Amuka, davening for all who submit their names for tefillah (it’s free) through Yad L’Achim. ​ Visit TuBavTogether.com (or call 1-718-690-2944 we are here to help!)    Tu B’Av Together is a Yad L’Achim initiative founded in 2015. Shidduchim is a topic that truly brings the entire spectrum of Klal Yisroel together. Tu B’Av Together, a day for tefillah—for shidduchim—is recognizing the need to daven for this important aspect of the Jewish people. We have been zoche to have millions of Yidden involved in tefillah, and with every year, one Jewish tefillah at a time, we’ll bring shidduchim closer to those yearning. To share this special Tu B’Av Together program and free tefillah via WhatsApp, click here ​ Yad L’Achim – Pidyon Shvuyim 4018 18 Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11218

Three residents of the Bedouin town of Tel Sheva, adjacent to Be’ersheva, have been indicted on terrorism charges, security services said on Friday.

Wadi Atta, Assi (Musab) Abu Issa and Muawiya Abu Issa were arrested last month in a joint operation conducted by the Israel Security Service (Shin Bet) and the Israel Police.

According to the indictment filed on Thursday, the three men were part of a larger group of Negev residents who planned to carry out terrorist activities and attack Jewish Israelis in Israel.

Atta allegedly attempted to initiate terrorist activity and worked to recruit others to advance his plan. His alleged motive for the attack was the fighting in the Gaza Strip. Atta was also allegedly radicalized after being exposed to content on the internet from terrorist organizations including the Islamic State and the Taliban.

According to the indictment, security forces learned that Assi Abu Issa and Muawiya Abu Issa agreed to Atta’s proposal to carry out jihad terrorist activities and to acquire weapons for this purpose. The Shin Bet and Israel Police arrested the trio before they could take steps to implement their plan.

“The Shin Bet and police view the involvement of Israeli citizens in terrorist activities with great severity and will continue to work to thwart and fully prosecute those involved in terrorist offenses who seek to harm Israeli citizens and residents,” the indictment states.

Another Tel Sheva resident, Sabah Haniyeh, a sister of the late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, was arrested in April on the charges of incitement and identifying with a terrorist organization.

In July, two Israelis from the northern Arab town of Ar’ara, Abdel Mahdi Gabarin and Naim Gabarin, were indicted on charges of attempting to join the Islamic State terrorist organization in Syria. According to the indictment, the pair were arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport while trying to board a plane to Turkey and from there travel to Syria.

(JNS)

Iran is pursuing partnerships with two Chinese satellite companies, Western security officials say, as it seeks to expand its capability for remote surveillance and intelligence gathering, potentially including high-resolution images of military targets in Israel and across the Middle East.

The outreach has included multiple exchanges of delegations in recent months between Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Chinese companies, both of which manufacture and operate remote-sensing satellites with sophisticated cameras, according to U.S., European and Middle Eastern officials privy to intelligence reports describing the meetings.

Iran’s courtship of the two companies is being watched closely amid concerns that any deal that emerges could allow Iran to dramatically improve its ability to spy on U.S. and Israeli military installations as well as those of Arab rivals in the Persian Gulf, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. The two companies offer a line of satellites with optical equipment that is at least twice as sensitive as the most advanced satellites operated by Iran.

The visits are occurring against a backdrop of closer ties between Beijing and Tehran in the wake of a 25-year political and economic cooperation pact signed by the foreign ministers of both countries three years ago. Iran has previously sought help from Russia in developing a network of Iranian-controlled surveillance satellites, assistance that has expanded as Russia has grown reliant on Iran as a supplier of attack drones used in its war against Ukraine.

A confidential assessment seen by The Washington Post warns that a deal with China could supply Iran with enhanced targeting capability for its arsenal of ballistic missiles as well as early warning systems to detect impending attacks. Iran might then be in a position to supply satellite-derived intelligence to allies such as Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have launched missile attacks on commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf, or to Syrian and Iraqi militias responsible for drone and rocket attacks on U.S. military bases in the region. Iran has previously provided such groups with satellite imagery purchased from China, the document said.

While there were no reports of a formal agreement yet, the assessment described a flourishing relationship between Tehran and one of the companies, Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., with several exchanges of delegations and long stays by IRGC operatives and officials in China. Chang Guang, based in Changchun in China’s northeastern Jilin province, makes small, low-cost “cubesat” satellites with optical equipment still capable of producing images with a resolution as fine as 30 centimeters, a capability comparable with that of the most sophisticated U.S. and European commercial satellite companies. Iran’s Khayyam satellite produces images with a resolution of about 1 meter.

Iranian officials also were seeking a business arrangement with the Beijing-based MinoSpace Technology Co., which makes the Taijing-series remote sensing satellites, and participated in an exchange of delegations with it, the assessment said.

Neither of the Chinese companies is under U.S. or international economic sanctions. The IRGC’s Quds Force, an elite unit that conducts overseas operations, faces multiple U.S. sanctions for support of terrorist operations.

Chang Guang and MinoSpace did not respond to emails requesting comment. Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not reply to a request for information about the reported contacts with the Chinese firms.

Chang Guang was embroiled in controversy last year after reports that it supplied satellite services and imagery to Russia’s Wagner mercenary group. The reports linked the company to a $30 million agreement signed by Wagner officials in November 2022, nine months after the start of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine.

China, one of Iran’s most important military partners historically, suspended most of its weapons sales to Tehran around 2005, as Western countries were tightening sanctions over Iran’s rapidly expanding nuclear program. Relations with Beijing gradually improved over the last decade, starting with a 2015 Chinese agreement to supply Iran with satellite-based navigation technology that allowed Tehran to improve the accuracy of its missiles and drones.

Many electronic components for Iranian aircraft originate in China. Under the 2o21 agreement, the two countries have committed to training exercises and future joint development of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.

China is now Iran’s biggest customer for petroleum products, and trade between the two countries has flourished, climbing to $32 billion last year. But that figure is dwarfed by China’s trade with Iran’s biggest gulf rivals: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

While Beijing has moved to upgrade its alliance with Tehran, Chinese officials have remained cautious about providing the kind of military aid that might inflame tensions with Iran’s neighbors or trigger international sanctions against Chinese companies. China also has appeared wary of contributing to an escalation in the Middle East that could shut down vital gulf waterways for oil tankers.

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, China has repeatedly criticized the United States for its role in the region while calling on all sides to end the violence. It has not publicly condemned Hamas, a group heavily supported by Iran.

Analysts said China may believe it has a legitimate civilian cover for assisting Iran’s space program, since surveillance satellites have many nonmilitary uses, such as environmental monitoring and disaster response.

“It is certainly plausible that Chinese companies would be working with Iran on surveillance technology, since it’s not the same as providing weapons, from the Chinese viewpoint,” said Gary Samore, a former top adviser on arms control to the Clinton and Obama administrations who serves as director of the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University. “The Chinese try to stay out of politics. The Middle East is a source of oil and gas, and they don’t want to compromise their relationships with the Saudis and the Emiratis.”

Moscow, meanwhile, remains the biggest booster of Iran’s burgeoning space program. Russia has launched at least two Iranian surveillance satellites into orbit since 2022, including the Pars-1 remote sensing satellite, which was dispatched into space in February aboard a Russian Soyuz-2 rocket. Iran claimed to have successfully launched four satellites in January using its own rockets. Three were communications satellites, and the fourth was a remote-sensing orbiter operated by the IRGC.

(c) Washington Post

Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Sen. JD Vance is preparing to dissolve the vestiges of a charitable effort he launched in Ohio after publication of his best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” the Trump-Vance campaign said. Vance formed two like-named nonprofits starting in 2016 to address problems in Ohio and other “Rust Belt” states. They were primarily supposed to focus on boosting job opportunities, improving mental health treatment and combating the opioid crisis. The original organization folded within five years and Vance put the other on hold when he ran successfully for the Senate in 2022. He faced criticism during the race over how little the groups accomplished. Despite Vance’s stated intentions to identify and produce national solutions to those problems, the nonprofits’ only notable achievement was paying to send an addiction specialist to southern Ohio for a year who had questioned the well-documented role of prescription painkillers in the national opioid crisis. Vance has acknowledged that the groups’ efforts fell far short of his aspirations. One of the groups — a foundation — filed paperwork in April reinstating the corporate status it had allowed to expire in 2022. Trump-Vance campaign spokesperson Taylor Van Kirk told The Associated Press that that filing was required because the foundation still had money left in its bank account and did not signal that Vance intended to resume the foundation’s efforts. She said he plans to close out its accounts and distribute the remaining balance to causes benefiting Appalachia. Records the group filed with the state and obtained by the AP through a public records request show it reported about $11,000 remaining in the foundation’s account. Vance’s first nonprofit, Our Ohio Renewal, was formed not long after “Hillbilly Elegy” was published in 2016. It was registered as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. Such groups are able to endorse candidates, though this one never did. Its contributions were not tax-deductible. Vance said his goal was to raise $500,000 a year to fund its work. A year later, he created the Our Ohio Renewal Foundation. As a 501(c)(3) charitable group, it operates with more restrictions but also allows donors to receive tax deductions for donations. The groups failed to catch on, in part because a key organizer was diagnosed with cancer. Our Ohio Renewal reported raising $221,000 in 2018 — $80,000 of which was Vance’s own money. It raised less than $50,000 a year thereafter, before being shut down in 2021, records show. Meanwhile, the foundation appears to have raised and spent only about $69,000 from 2017 to 2023 — although figures in its annual reports don’t all add up. Neither Jai Chabria, a Vance political adviser who formerly worked as a consultant to the foundation, nor the campaign was able to explain the discrepancies, citing the passage of time and changes in personnel. The AP reported in 2022 that the residency funded by Vance’s charitable efforts for Dr. Sally Satel in Ironton, Ohio, was clouded by ties between her, the American Enterprise Institute, where she was a resident scholar, and OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma. Satel cited Purdue-funded studies in some of her writings while being paid by the institute, which at the time was receiving funding from the drugmaker, according to reports in ProPublica. Vance’s Senate campaign said the candidate — whose family’s experience with addiction figured […]

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., reportedly pressured President Joe Biden to abandon his reelection campaign by threatening to publicly voice her doubts about his viability as a candidate.

On July 21, Biden unexpectedly declared that he was ending his bid for a second term in the White House. Prior to this, he had repeatedly affirmed his intention to run against former President Donald Trump.

Sources told DailyMail.com that Biden’s sudden decision came after Pelosi communicated her intent to go public with her concerns that he wouldn’t be able to defeat Trump in the general election.

Pelosi, 84, personally called the 81-year-old president, warning that she was prepared to release damning poll data to justify her stance, according to one insider cited by the outlet.

Biden’s poor performance in the June 27 debate against Trump had already caused significant unease among Democrats, diminishing support for his candidacy.

Pelosi’s ultimatum reportedly triggered a moment of reckoning for Biden, leading him to instruct his team to draft his withdrawal statement, DailyMail.com revealed.

Since this confrontation, the two prominent Democrats have not communicated.

While promoting her memoir, Pelosi has denied exerting any direct pressure on Biden, stating, “I didn’t call one person” when asked about her involvement.

However, in an interview with the New Yorker last week, Pelosi admitted that her falling out with Biden had caused her sleepless nights, and she expressed hope that their friendship could endure. “He knows I love him,” she told CNN.

According to a report by Politico on Wednesday, Biden is still harboring resentment over how his departure from the top of the Democratic ticket was handled.

His frustration is particularly directed at Pelosi, Politico noted.

First Lady Jill Biden, who is known for holding grudges, and first son Hunter Biden are reportedly furious with Pelosi, seeing her actions as a betrayal, DailyMail.com reported.

In his first interview after exiting the race, Biden confirmed that his decision was influenced by concerns from within his own party.

“A number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races,” Biden shared on “CBS News Sunday Morning.”

He further explained, “I was worried that if I stayed in the race, that would be the main issue — you’d be asking me about why Nancy Pelosi said [something] … and I thought it’d be a real distraction.”

{Matzav.com}

On Friday, large amounts of sewage polluted Nachal Tekoa in Gush Etzion, after the Palestinian Authority’s al-Maniya sanitation dump partially collapsed, causing a serious environmental hazard.

After the south-eastern part of the sanitation dump collapsed leading to the flood of sewage being released into the environment, Gush Etzion Regional Council Head Yaron Rosenthal estimated that thousands of cubic meters of sewage had run off into Nachal Tekoa and from there into Midbar Yehuda. “It’s a difficult sight and there’s a lot of damage,” said Rosenthal. “The residents of Ma’ale Amos, Ibei HaNahal, and Tekoa will suffer from the dangerous pollution, and animals and plants will be seriously harmed.”

Rosenthal said he would demand the Israeli government take action against the PA dump, saying: “We will continue the legal process against the operations of the al-Maniya dump, which embitters the lives of the area’s residents. This is a reminder of that, that we can’t let the Palestinians create an incineration site near Neve Daniel, in an area that is lawless when it comes to environmental protection,”

{Matzav.com}

TikTok on Thursday pushed back against U.S. government arguments that the popular social media platform is not shielded by the First Amendment, comparing its platform to prominent American media organizations owned by foreign entities. Last month, the Justice Department argued in a legal brief filed in a Washington federal appeals court that neither TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, nor the platform’s global and U.S. arms — TikTok Ltd. and TikTok Inc. — were entitled to First Amendment protections because they are “foreign organizations operating abroad” or owned by one. TikTok attorneys have made the First Amendment a key part of their legal challenge to the federal law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok to an approved buyer or face a ban. On Thursday, they argued in a court document that TikTok’s U.S. arm doesn’t forfeit its constitutional rights because it is owned by a foreign entity. They drew a parallel between TikTok and well-known news outlets such as Politico and Business Insider, both of which are owned by German publisher Axel Springer SE. They also cited Fortune, a business magazine owned by Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon. “Surely the American companies that publish Politico, Fortune, and Business Insider do not lose First Amendment protection because they have foreign ownership,” the TikTok attorneys wrote, arguing that “no precedent” supports what they called “the government’s dramatic rewriting of what counts as protected speech.” In a redacted court filing made last month, the Justice Department argued ByteDance and TikTok haven’t raised valid free speech claims in their challenge against the law, saying the measure addresses national security concerns about TikTok’s ownership without targeting protected speech. The Biden administration and TikTok had held talks in recent years aimed at resolving the government’s concerns. But the two sides failed to reach a deal. TikTok said the government essentially walked away from the negotiating table after it proposed a 90-page agreement that detailed how the company planned to address concerns about the app while still maintaining ties with ByteDance. However, the Justice Department has said TikTok’s proposal “failed to create sufficient separation between the company’s U.S. operations and China” and did not adequately address some of the government’s concerns. The government has pointed to some data transfers between TikTok employees and ByteDance engineers in China as why it believed the proposal, called Project Texas, was not sufficient to guard against national security concerns. Federal officials have also argued that the size and scope of TikTok would have made it impossible to meaningfully enforce compliance with the proposal. TikTok attorneys said Thursday that some of what the government views as inadequacies of the agreement were never raised during the negotiations. Separately the DOJ on Thursday evening asked the court to submit evidence under seal, saying in a filing that the case contained information classified at “Top Secret” levels. TikTok has been opposing those requests. Oral arguments in the case are scheduled to begin on Sept. 16. (AP)

On Friday morning Hezbollah released a propaganda video showcasing a massive, secret underground terror facility. The video showed the underground area had enough room for multiple trucks, motorcycles and more to pass through, and can be used for launching huge quantities of rockets at Israel. The facility, named “Imad 4,” is equipped with lighting and technology.

In the video, Hezbollah threatened it can attack anywhere in Israel, saying “Israel will face a destiny and reality it didn’t expect any day. War with us [Hezbollah] extends across all of Palestine from the Lebanese border to the Jordanian border. To the Red Sea, to Kiryat Shmona, to Eilat.”

The video also featured footage of terrorists riding motorcycles around the underground facility, passed walls lined with photos of Hezbollah terror leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior terrorists who have been eliminated.

{Matzav.com}

It is with abject horror that we have all witnessed the reckless driving in the Catskills spiral from bad to worse, and now, to outright terrifying. What was once a summer haven has become a death trap, and we must refuse to stand by any longer while people’s lives are recklessly endangered. I have been coming to the Catskills for my summer vacations since I was a child. Back then, there were always a few dangerous drivers on these winding roads, but nothing like the carnage we see now. Every summer for the past few years, there has been a tragedy. This summer, only one incident so far—a horrifying crash that claimed the lives of two young men on Thursday night. I am not here to accuse anyone of speeding or reckless driving in that specific case because I do not know the details. But this isn’t about that particular tragedy alone—it’s about the toxic culture of recklessness on these roads that is putting lives at risk daily. The summer driving in the Catskills has become a perennial disaster waiting to happen. Long, winding roads mixed with the so-called “freedom” of vacation have given birth to a culture of lawlessness. The wake-up calls have been many, but guess what? No one is waking up. Year after year, we see the same reckless behavior and the same preventable tragedies. Enough is enough. It’s clear that without intervention, nothing will change. We have reached a point where complacency is complicity. Every camp administrator, every community leader, every person who turns a blind eye to this recklessness is failing in their duty to protect lives. If you know someone who is guilty of this dangerous behavior and you are staying silent, then their blood is on your hands too. And we cannot let that slide. Firstly, Catskills Hatzolah has to step up. I understand that this summer is almost over, but the time to begin working on a plan must begin now. The least it could do is hire a production company and create a video showing the horrors, wrecks, awful injuries and the number of accidents that occur on Catskills roads every year. Take that video and make it mandatory viewing at every camp and every bungalow colony. Try to give people the tiniest semblance of an idea of what their actions on the road lead to. Secondly, but equally importantly, law enforcement and askanim with law enforcement connections have to step up. This has been going on for years now. There has to be a crackdown on dangerous drivers like there has never been before. Rather than trying to get people off the hook for speeding and reckless driving tickets, askanim should be working to get such people in hot water. They are dangers to the public, and if you are truly an “askan,” you should be an askan for “tzorchei tzibbur,” not “tzorchei yochid.” Sadly, I don’t think that Hatzolah and askanim will actually do anything about this scourge. Had they wanted to, it would have gotten done already. But I hope I’m wrong. If I am not, I’m prepared to take matters into my own hands. For the past three months, I have been collecting evidence—footage shared on social media, showing the very worst of this behavior. Videos of speeding […]

Dozens of Israeli citizens, some masked, set fire to vehicles and buildings, and threw rocks and Molotov cocktails, in the town of Jit in Samaria at 8 p.m. on Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces stated.

The Israel Defense Forces and Israeli Border Police rushed to the village “within minutes of receiving the report, used means to disperse demonstrations and shot into the air and removed the Israeli citizens from the village,” the IDF stated, in Hebrew.

Security forces arrested an Israeli citizen and turned him over to the Israeli police, according to the IDF, which said it is investigating the report that a Palestinian was killed during the incident.

“Following the serious incident, a joint investigation was opened by the IDF, the Shin Bet and the Israel Police,” the Israeli army added in Hebrew. “The IDF condemns events of this type and the rioters, who harm security, law and order, and divert the IDF and the security forces from their main mission of thwarting terrorism and protecting the security of the residents.”

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s office stated that he “views with utmost severity the disturbances that took place, this evening in Jit, which included attacks on people and property by Israelis who entered the village.”

“It is the IDF and the security forces that fight terrorism, and nobody else,” he said. “Those responsible for any offense will be apprehended and tried.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wrote that “at a time when our troops are fighting on the frontlines, defending the State of Israel, a group of radical individuals have launched a riot, and attacked innocent people.”

“They do not represent the values of the communities living in the Shomron,” Gallant added. “I strongly condemn any form of violence and fully support the IDF, ISA and Israeli Police in fulfilling their roles and addressing this issue. Violent, radical riots are the opposite of every code and value upheld by the State of Israel.” (The ISA is the Israel Securities Authority.)

“I am appalled by yesterday’s violent attack by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank,” Jack Lew, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, wrote on Friday. (The Biden administration and some countries and organizations refer to Yehuda and Shomron as the “West Bank.”)

“These attacks must stop and the criminals be held to account,” Lew added.

“We condemn the violence of extremist settlers who attacked and set fires in a Palestinian village in the West Bank yesterday, one Palestinian was killed. This violence is unacceptable and the attacks must stop immediately,” stated the German Foreign Office. “Palestinians have a right to live in safety. Israel has an obligation to protect Palestinians in the West Bank, stop these attacks, and prosecute the perpetrators. There must be no impunity for such acts of violence.”

“The killing in the Palestinian village of Jit on Aug. 15 was not an isolated attack. This was a direct consequence of Israel’s settlement policy and the prevailing climate of impunity,” stated the U.N. Human Rights Office. “Since Oct. 7, 2023, at least 609 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank, including over 140 children. This needed to stop, and the key would be accountability for perpetrators. There had been very few investigations, and even those had not concluded with justice for victims and their families. There was clearly a state responsibility in this regard.”

“We are appalled by yesterday’s attacks by extremist settlers on a Palestinian village in the West Bank,” stated Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. “These attacks have rightly been condemned in the strongest terms by both the president and prime minister of Israel. The extremists responsible must now be swiftly brought to justice.”

The American Jewish Committee condemned “strongly” the “actions of the extremist Israeli settlers who violently attacked the Palestinian village of Jit in the West Bank, killing one person, injuring others and burning cars and houses.”

“Their actions, which have been condemned by numerous Israeli officials, including the prime minister and president, contradict Jewish and Israeli values. Security forces must swiftly act to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators,” the AJC said. “Our thoughts are with the victims and families of this senseless violence.”

Yossi Dagan, head of the Shomron Regional Council, and Ozel Vatik, head of the Kedumim Council, stated that “we wish to say in a clear way in no uncertain terms: Even after the throwing of rocks, no one has the right to take the law into their own hands,” per Arutz Sheva.

The two suggested that following a report of rock throwing on the road near Jit, outsiders—who they said are “unwelcome guests”—came from outside of Samaria “through bizarre WhatsApp groups in order to cause disorder and violence.”

“A group arrived of teenagers, most of whom are not from Shomron at all. A group of Israelis entered the village of Jit, and as a result, severe clashes developed between Arabs from the village, which included mutual attacks,” the two said. “Those who come to cause disorder and violence—do not come to Shomron.”

“We are already dealing here with terrorism, political difficulties from within the country and abroad, and we do not need your acts of violence and the bad name you give to the communities in Yehuda and Shomron, and to the entire State of Israel,” they added.

Dagan and Vatik claimed that “the young Arab who was killed during the incident is a definite supporter of terrorism, who was photographed with a weapon and posted on networks supporting the murderous Lions’ Den terrorist organization and acts of murder and terrorism.”

“But we stress the obvious,” they said. “The handling of terrorists and supporters of terrorism must be left to the IDF. Violent acts like we saw in Jit must not happen and have no place.”

(JNS)

A reputed Peruvian gang leader suspected in 23 killings in his home country was arrested Wednesday in New York by U.S. immigration authorities. Gianfranco Torres-Navarro, the leader of “Los Killers” who is wanted for the killings in Peru, was arrested in Endicott, New York, about 145 miles (233 kilometers) northwest of New York City, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday. He is being held at a federal detention facility near Buffalo pending an immigration hearing. Torres-Navarro, 38, entered the U.S. illegally at the Texas-Mexico border on May 16. He was arrested the same day and given a notice to appear for immigration proceedings, according to the agency, known as ICE. U.S. authorities moved to arrest Torres-Navarro after receiving information on July 8 that he was wanted in Peru. “Gianfranco Torres-Navarro poses a significant threat to our communities, and we won’t allow New York to be a safe haven for dangerous noncitizens,” said Thomas Brophy, the director of enforcement removal operations for ICE’s Buffalo field office. Immigration agents also arrested Torres-Navarro’s girlfriend, Mishelle Sol Ivanna Ortíz Ubillús, described by Peruvian authorities as his right hand. She is being held at a processing center in Pennsylvania, according to ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System. Online immigration detention records for Torres-Navarro and Ortíz Ubillús did not include information on lawyers who could comment on their behalf. Peru’s justice system confirmed to The Associated Press that it ordered the location and international capture of Torres-Navarro and his partner Ortiz-Ubilluz on July 3. Col. Franco Moreno, head of Peru’s High Complexity Crime Investigations Division, told the AP Thursday that they tracked phone calls, geolocations and messages from Torres-Navarro and his gang of at least 10 members. “He is a highly dangerous criminal who believed he was untouchable and responsible for 23 murders, including other gang leaders who ended up dead along with their families, all in order to increase his criminal leadership,” Moreno said. According to Peruvian authorities, Torres-Navarro is the leader of a criminal organization known as “Los Killers de Ventanilla y Callao” that has used violence to thwart rivals seeking to cut into its core business of extorting construction companies. Torres-Navarro allegedly fled Peru after the killing of retired police officer Cesar Quegua Herrera and the shooting of a municipal employee at a restaurant in San Miguel in March, Peruvian media reported. Six reputed members of “Los Killers,” formed in 2022 in an area along the Pacific coast where Peru’s main port is located, were arrested in a series of raids in June and accused of homicide, contract killing, and extortion, the National Police of Peru said. Torres-Navarro was previously a member of the Los Malditos de Angamos criminal organization, Peru’s Public Prosecutor’s Office said. He is also known as “Gianfranco 23,” a reference to the number of people he is alleged to have killed. Torres-Navarro eluded previous attempts to hold him accountable for his alleged crimes. In 2019, while on the run from authorities, he was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for illegal weapons possession. He remained at large until 2021, when he was arrested at a toll checkpoint near Peru’s capital city, Lima. But even then, he didn’t stay behind bars for long. After an acquittal in that case, Torres-Navarro was freed last December. Soon after, Peruvian authorities […]

Israel Defense Forces troops have killed more than 17,000 terrorists in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war against Hamas on Oct. 7, IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari revealed on Thursday night.

“IDF forces continue to fight in Gaza—maneuvering in Rafah, Khan Yunis, the central Strip and are attacking everywhere,” Hagari told reporters at a briefing. “So far, we have eliminated more than 17,000 terrorists.

“The significant combat and the ensuing high accomplishments impede Hamas’s ability to raise its head again and rebuild itself, and we are determined to keep this up,” the military spokesman added.

IDF forces entered Gaza on Oct. 27 after weeks of airstrikes in response to the Oct. 7 attacks, in which terrorists murdered some 1,200 people, wounded thousands more and abducted more than 250 others to Gaza.

On June 23, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said the intense combat in Gaza was winding down and that the IDF would deploy more troops to the Lebanese border amid attacks by Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Last month, the IDF announced that its forces had killed half of Hamas’s leadership in Gaza and killed or arrested around 14,000 of its fighters.

That number was identical to a figure cited by Jerusalem two months prior, when Netanyahu told a U.S. podcast, “We’re facing 35,000 Hamas terrorists. We’ve killed already about 14,000, wounded many others.”

Avi Hyman, a government spokesperson, said on May 13 that IDF forces had killed more than 14,000 terrorists and that some 16,000 civilians had been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7 as a result of the ensuing war.

Hyman said the Israeli army was setting the gold standard for urban warfare with “the lowest civilian-to-combatant casualty ratio in history.”

On Thursday, the IDF announced that soldiers killed 20 terrorists and destroyed a structure concealing a tunnel entrance during raids in the former Hamas stronghold of Rafah in southernmost Gaza.

Over the course of 24 hours, the Israeli Air Force attacked more than 30 Hamas terrorist infrastructure sites, including structures rigged with explosives, underground infrastructure and weapons storage facilities.

The military also revealed on Thursday that troops over the past month demolished no fewer than 50 terrorist tunnels under the Philadelphi Corridor separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

Israeli forces conquered the Philadelphi Corridor in May and continue to operate in the border area to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons and other materials into Gaza via a vast network of tunnels.

(JNS)

A source with close ties to Hezbollah informed the Washington Post on Thursday that the group will refrain from attacking Israel as long as ceasefire and hostage release negotiations continue in Qatar.

“Hezbollah will not initiate its retaliatory strike while the Qatar talks are ongoing, as the organization does not want to be blamed for disrupting the discussions or any potential agreement,” the source told the newspaper.

“The retaliation isn’t urgent and doesn’t have a fixed timeline,” the source added.

This update comes after the initial days of discussions in Doha regarding a ceasefire and hostage release agreement, involving representatives from the US, Egypt, Qatar, and Israel. Hamas had previously announced on Sunday that it would not be sending representatives to the negotiations.

Hezbollah has issued threats of retaliation against Israel following the assassination of its high-ranking commander, Fuad Shukr, in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on July 30.

Earlier in the week, Al Jadeed reported that several Arab nations have approached Hezbollah, urging the group to delay its response to Shukr’s assassination until after the talks in Doha.

The report noted that “heavy pressure is being placed on Hezbollah to moderate its response, to avoid giving Israel a reason to escalate the conflict with Lebanon.”

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, confirmed on Thursday night that the talks would resume on Friday.

He also stated that mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States are continuing their efforts to secure a ceasefire that would lead to the release of hostages and allow for the entry of significant amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

{Matzav.com}

As California’s attorney general, Kamala Harris successfully defended the death penalty in court, despite her past crusade against it. As a new senator, she proposed to abolish cash bail — a reversal from when she chided San Francisco judges for making it “cheaper” to commit crimes by setting bail amounts too low. And now, as vice president and the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris’ campaign insists that she does not want to ban fracking, an oil and gas extraction process, even though that was precisely her position just a few years ago when she first pursued the White House. Politicians often recalibrate in the face of shifting public opinions and circumstances. Across two decades in elected office and now seeking the presidency for the second time, Harris has not hesitated to stake out expedient and — at times — contradictory positions as she climbed the political ladder. Harris’ litany of policy reversals is opening her to attacks by Republicans and testing the strength of her pitch to voters as a truth-teller who is more credible than former President Donald Trump. Her shifts, including on matters that she has framed as moral issues, could raise doubts about her convictions as she is reintroducing herself to the public after taking the reins of the campaign from President Joe Biden, who last month dropped out of the race. In addition to reversing course on fracking and cash bail, Harris has changed tack on issues including health care (she supported a plan to eliminate private health insurance before she opposed it), immigration and gun control. “She is vulnerable to the charge of flip-flopping, no question about that,” said John Pitney, a professor of political science at Claremont McKenna College in California, who worked as a GOP congressional and political aide in the 1980s. “The trouble for Republicans, to put it lightly” is Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, “do not come to this issue with spotless records.” In a statement, Harris’ campaign did not address her policy shifts. Instead, a campaign spokesman leaned into her credentials as a San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general to attack Trump. “During her career in law enforcement, Kamala Harris was a pragmatic prosecutor who successfully took on predators, fraudsters and cheaters like Donald Trump,” said spokesman James Singer. Trump has changed positions, too Trump has a well-documented record of falsehoods, shifting positions and outright lies. One of the clearest examples of his penchant for taking all sides of an issue is on abortion, a transition that took him from “very pro-choice” in 1999 to “pro-life” in recent years. He suggested during his 2016 presidential campaign that women who have abortions should be subject to “some form of punishment,” but now says abortion policy should be left up to the states. He has also boasted of appointing three justices to the Supreme Court, paving the way for its landmark 2022 ruling striking down the constitutional right to abortion. Nevertheless, there is ample incentive for Republicans to attack Harris along similar lines if history is a guide. Republicans in 2004 savaged then-Sen. John Kerry for voting both for and against the same Iraq War funding bill, which they distilled down to the attack that he “was for it before (he) was against it.” Democrats attacked George H.W. Bush for failing to abide by his “read my lips” vow to not raise taxes. […]

Hezbollah’s increased deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles into northern Israeli airspace is designed to expose vulnerabilities in the Jewish state’s air defense systems.

The Iranian-backed terror army has been leveraging its proximity to Israel to study and search for loopholes, flying UAVs at low altitudes and launching them from southern Lebanese valleys to evade Israeli detection and interception systems, primarily Iron Dome.

Hezbollah has also systematically practiced its ability to locate and target Israeli air defense systems.

This latter tactic appears to have been illustrated on Aug. 5, when Hezbollah released a video claiming to have struck a sensor component of an Israeli counter-drone system, possibly with an explosive quadcopter.

Cmdr. (res.) Eyal Pinko, a researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan and an expert in intelligence, cyber and national security, told JNS that Hezbollah, along with Iran and Hamas, has been systematically studying and adapting to Israeli air defense capabilities over the years.

“For many years, Hezbollah, Iran and Hamas have been learning about Israeli air defense capabilities and improving their own capabilities,” said Pinko, who served as a senior officer in the Israeli Naval Intelligence Division, as well as in an additional intelligence organization.

“This is true for their ballistic missile systems, cruise missiles and UAVs. They fire salvos and test how we respond. They know how to fire at different areas and observe our reactions,” he said.

Pinko pointed out that the ongoing conflict has seen Hezbollah intensify these tactics. He added that despite continuous upgrades to Israeli air defense systems, “There’s always a race between defense and offense, and the winner is whoever upgrades first.”

In addition to Iron Dome to take on the threat of UAVs from Lebanon, the Rafael Advanced Defense Systems-made Iron Beam laser interception cannon is due to become operational in the coming months.

There have been reports that the IDF is also testing radar-guided Vulcan cannons, with Defense News writing on May 29 that the M61 Vulcan cannon, which can fire some 6,000 rounds per minute and be mounted on top of armored personnel carriers, has been the subject of the tests.

The evolving threat posed by Hezbollah’s UAVs underscores the challenges Israel faces in maintaining its longstanding air superiority.

The limitations of Israel’s air superiority

Brig. Gen. (res.) Eran Ortal, a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA Center) and former commander of the IDF’s Dado Center for Multidisciplinary Military Thinking, co-authored a paper with Brig. Gen. (res.) Ran Kochav, a former commander of the IAF’s Air Defense Array, published on July 22, arguing that the current conflict has highlighted the limitations of Israel’s air superiority, particularly in what they term the “low skies”—the airspace where small, low-altitude UAVs operate.

“The current war and Hezbollah’s drone strikes have demonstrated that Israeli air superiority does not extend to the layer of ‘low skies,’” the paper asserts. “It is evident that the enemy is targeting the air defense systems themselves.”

Ortal and Kochav stress that while the Israeli defense establishment is developing various solutions to this challenge, technological development and procurement alone will not be sufficient.

“The basic assumptions under which air defense evolved have been undermined,” they wrote. “Air defense needs to be reorganized under the understanding that its components will be the enemy’s first targets, and that defending forces on the front line requires different organization, command, control and resources than defending the home front.”

Ortal and Kochav called for the establishment of a new tactical air defense array for the northern front, similar in nature to the older anti-aircraft units that the IDF previously shut down.

“Gradually, a new-old layer of threat has developed: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that are small, have low radar signatures, are cheap, and are numerous,” Ortal and Kochav observed. “The world of drones and various flying devices has completely changed the basic assumption of absolute air superiority.”

While the IAF continues to dominate Middle Eastern skies, “under the nose of the advanced fighter jets, a new aerial layer has been formed—low skies,” they wrote, adding that this is where enemies have found a loophole.

A learning race

Ortal, in a separate paper published on May 27, warned that the ongoing war of attrition in the north is not just a series of tit-for-tat exchanges but also both sides trying to gain an upper hand for a possible decisive conflict.

“The war of attrition in the north is not just a system of response equations. It is also a learning race and preparation for a campaign in which both sides will try to defeat the enemy’s military forces,” he wrote. Ortal stressed that Hezbollah is using these exchanges to learn about the performance of Israeli air defense systems and to identify weaknesses.

“The most popular target for Hezbollah is the air control base at Meron,” Ortal noted. “This critical facility, including for the air defense array, has been attacked dozens of times using a variety of methods.

(At 3,950 feet (1,204 meters) above sea level, Mount Meron in the Upper Galilee is the highest peak within the Green Line.)

“The IDF focuses on the limited damage and the relative success of intercepting rockets and protecting the facility, but the enemy may see this as an ongoing experiment to test Iron Dome’s performance envelope,” Ortal said.

Hezbollah is also using such attacks to practice its ability to fire combinations of UAVs, rockets and anti-tank missiles to overcome air defenses and hit targets.

The Lebanese terrorist group’s use of UAVs is not just about gathering intelligence or striking isolated targets; it is part of a broader strategy to test and overwhelm Israeli air defenses, Ortal warned.

(JNS)