New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani imposed a sweeping travel ban across the five boroughs ahead of a powerful winter storm expected to strike the region, shutting down non-essential traffic as officials brace for blizzard conditions.
Speaking at a press briefing, Mamdani said he was declaring a state of emergency in advance of the storm. Under the order, all city streets, highways and bridges will be closed to non-emergency vehicles beginning at 9 p.m. Sunday, with the restrictions set to remain in place until noon Monday.
The prohibition covers virtually every form of transportation, including passenger vehicles, commercial trucks, scooters and e-bikes. Only emergency responders and workers performing critical services will be permitted to travel during the ban.
Forecasters have placed millions of residents across the Northeast under blizzard warnings as a rapidly intensifying bomb cyclone is forecast to bring as much as two feet of snow along the heavily traveled I-95 corridor. Meteorologists warned of wind gusts reaching 70 miles per hour and cautioned that widespread power outages are likely as the storm strengthens through Sunday night.
Air travel has already been heavily disrupted, with more than 7,000 flights canceled across the Northeast by Sunday afternoon.
Major metropolitan areas including New York City, Boston and Philadelphia are expected to receive between 18 and 24 inches of snowfall. Washington, D.C., is projected to see between five and eight inches, while snowfall estimates for nearby Baltimore have been slightly reduced overnight.
Blizzard warnings currently cover approximately 29 million people.
{Matzav.com}An 18-year-old Border Police officer was killed Sunday in what authorities believe was an accidental shooting at a residence in Azor, in central Israel.
Ori Mechtaiev suffered a gunshot wound to the head during the incident. Paramedics from Magen David Adom rushed to the scene and carried out prolonged resuscitation efforts, but were ultimately forced to declare him dead.
Investigators suspect the fatal shot was fired unintentionally while weapons were being handled inside the home. According to police, two people who were present at the time — an IDF soldier and a civilian friend of the victim — were taken in for questioning. The Military Police have joined the inquiry as officials work to determine exactly how the shooting occurred.
Mechtaiev, who lived in Azor, enlisted in the Border Police in November 2025 and was serving in the Combat Training Brigade at the time of his death.
He leaves behind his parents and two brothers. His father, Ronen Mechtaiev, serves as Deputy Commissioner of Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir issued a statement mourning the young officer’s death. “With deep sorrow and a broken heart, I received the news of the fall of Border Police fighter Ori Mechtaiev, of blessed memory, the son of my dear friend Ronen Mechtaiev, Deputy Commissioner of Fire and Rescue. Ori, only 18 at the time of his death, chose to serve the state like his father, on the front lines of security activity in the Border Police training brigade. There are no words that can comfort parents and siblings who have lost what is most precious to them prematurely.
“On my behalf and on behalf of the citizens of Israel, I extend heartfelt condolences to his father, the family, and friends. The Israel Police and the Border Police will continue to stand by you and will forever cherish Ori’s memory. May his memory be blessed,” Ben-Gvir said.
Fire Commissioner Eyal Caspi also spoke about the family’s longstanding service within the Fire and Rescue system. “The Mechtaiev family has been connected to the Fire and Rescue Service for many years. The family’s grandfather served as commander of the Bat Yam station, and two of the deputy commissioner’s brothers hold senior command positions in the Fire and Rescue Service. The Fire and Rescue family shares in the heavy grief of the dear family, embraces them, and will continue to accompany them always.”
The deadly shooting comes months after another fatal incident involving a firearm. In October, Yosef Chaim Rabuch, an IDF soldier who was home on leave, was killed when a weapon discharged accidentally in his residence in Kiryat Arba, in front of his fiancée.
Following that case, the Police Internal Investigations Department submitted an indictment against a Border Police officer, charging him with reckless manslaughter in connection with Rabuch’s death. Prosecutors also listed ten additional counts in the filing, alleging that the officer had repeatedly handled his weapon in a dangerously negligent and unlawful manner.
{Matzav.com}Israel’s Ministry of Health announced Sunday that a six-year-old boy who had not been vaccinated died overnight after contracting measles, underscoring renewed concerns about the dangers of the highly contagious disease.
According to the ministry, the child was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Medical teams attempted life-saving measures, but despite their efforts, doctors were forced to declare him dead.
Health officials further reported that of the 15 additional measles-related deaths recorded, the majority involved otherwise healthy babies and children who had no underlying medical issues and had not received the measles vaccine.
The ministry stressed the urgent need for parents to ensure their children are vaccinated and warned that anyone experiencing symptoms or suspecting exposure should seek medical care without delay. Prompt treatment, officials said, can be lifesaving.
{Matzav.com}
The Transportation Security Administration announced Sunday that its PreCheck program will continue operating, reversing an earlier indication that the expedited screening service would be suspended during the partial government shutdown.
“At this time, TSA PreCheck remains operational with no change for the traveling public,” a TSA spokesperson said.
The agency clarified that while the program remains in place, adjustments could be made if staffing shortages become an issue. Officials also confirmed that certain nonessential services have already been paused.
“As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case by case basis and adjust operations accordingly,” the spokesperson added. “Courtesy escorts, such as those for Members of Congress, have been suspended to allow officers to focus on the mission of securing America’s skies.”
Earlier, the Department of Homeland Security had indicated that it would temporarily halt both TSA PreCheck lanes and Customs and Border Protection’s Global Entry program because of the funding gap tied to the shutdown.
The DHS had said that it was temporarily “ending Transportation Security Administration (TSA) PreCheck® lanes and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Global Entry service,” due to the partial government shutdown.
TSA PreCheck is a subscription-based program that offers expedited security screening at participating airports, allowing travelers to leave laptops in their bags and avoid removing certain items during the process.
Enrollment in the program generally costs about $85.
The partial shutdown affecting DHS operations began Feb. 14 after Congress failed to reach an agreement on funding, with the impasse stemming from disagreements over Democratic proposals to overhaul immigration enforcement policies.
{Matzav.com}President Donald Trump is on track for a strong showing in the upcoming midterm elections, with Republicans likely to capture both the House and the Senate, according to political adviser Dick Morris.
Speaking on Newsmax’s “The Count,” Morris dismissed negative projections from Democrats and argued that Trump has positioned himself and his party for significant gains in November.
“[It’s] time to correct the Democratic doom and gloom about the upcoming elections,” Morris told Newsmax’s “The Count.” “I think Trump is going to win the House and win the Senate.”
Morris attributed his confidence largely to what he described as a marked economic rebound under Trump’s leadership. He said the president has steered key economic indicators in a direction that could resonate strongly with voters.
“I think that he’s got the economy just where he needs it,” he said. “It’s creating jobs. He’s got inflation well under control. He’s reducing affordability costs that have plagued New Yorkers.”
Describing the economic shift as dramatic, Morris emphasized what he views as historically strong performance figures.
Calling the turnaround “so profound and so deep,” Morris added, “We have almost 0% inflation and about 4% growth, and nobody possibly could have done that before. And it’s just an incredible tribute.”
On border security, Morris credited Trump with decisive action to curb illegal crossings, arguing that immigration policy will also be a key factor in the election outcome.
On immigration, Morris said Trump “sealed the border” and “stopped illegal immigrants from coming in,” adding, “I think that he is set for a big win on Election Day of this year.”
Although Democrats have recently secured victories in several contests, Morris maintained that Trump remains competitive nationwide, including in states that traditionally favor Democrats.
Asked about recent Democrat victories in several races, Morris predicted Trump would remain competitive even in traditionally blue states.
“He’ll carry New York like one and, but he’ll carry swing states throughout the country,” Morris said. “People have always underestimated Trump’s ability to win, his ability to rally the average voter. And I think they’re doing it again.”
Morris also suggested that a forthcoming Supreme Court decision could significantly alter the political landscape by reshaping congressional districts across the country.
Morris also pointed to a potential Supreme Court ruling that he said could reshape the congressional map. “The Supreme Court, I think, is likely to throw out majority-minority districts,” he said.
He argued that districts designed to ensure minority representation unfairly favor Democrats and predicted the Court would invalidate such maps.
“Those seats that are Democrat only because they gerrymander the laws and the lines to make sure only Democrats and only liberal and Black Democrats can win,” Morris continued. “And the Supreme Court is about to throw that out and say that’s unconstitutional, race-based districting.”
According to Morris, a ruling along those lines would dramatically change the makeup of Congress.
Morris added that such a decision would have sweeping effects in Congress, saying it “is going to obliterate plenty of Black congressmen and Hispanic congressmen who were elected from districts that they shouldn’t be elected from.”
{Matzav.com}
U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said yesterday that Iran could, in theory, be roughly one week away from enriching uranium to weapons-grade levels, though he did not note that Tehran currently lacks access to its stockpiles, functioning enrichment equipment, or an active weapons program.
Speaking on Fox News’s My View with Lara Trump, Witkoff underscored what he described as the potential danger if Iran were able to restore its nuclear infrastructure.
“They’re probably a week away from having industrial-grade bomb-making material. And that’s really dangerous. So they can’t have that,” Witkoff said on Fox News’s My View with host Lara Trump, clearly wanting to highlight the severity of the potential future nuclear issues should Iran rebuild all the other elements of its nuclear program, which were bombed in June 2025.
In June 2025, joint Israeli and American strikes dismantled key components of Iran’s nuclear capabilities. The attacks eliminated approximately 20,000 centrifuges, wiped out the country’s complex weaponization apparatus, heavily damaged two of its three primary nuclear facilities, struck numerous smaller sites, and killed many of Iran’s top nuclear scientists. Parts of certain facilities were collapsed, further limiting the regime’s ability to retrieve previously enriched uranium.
Before those operations, intelligence assessments indicated that Iran had reduced its breakout time to about one week if it chose to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels. After that, experts estimated it would have needed an additional three to six months to integrate the material into a missile system and assemble a functional nuclear device.
That compressed timeline had alarmed Israeli officials, particularly as it had narrowed dramatically from an earlier estimate of roughly two years. At that stage, Israeli intelligence agencies concluded they might not detect Iran’s final steps toward a bomb in time if preemptive action were delayed.
Now, Israeli and U.S. officials assess that Iran is at least two years away from producing a nuclear weapon, given the extensive reconstruction required across multiple elements of its program.
Witkoff’s remarks appeared aimed at emphasizing how close Iran once came to weapons-grade enrichment, reinforcing the Trump administration’s position that Tehran should no longer be permitted to enrich uranium under any circumstances. His comments come as Washington continues outlining its broader strategy toward Iran, including the possibility of military action if nuclear activities resume.
WATCH:
As New York City braces for a major snowstorm, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing backlash over identification requirements for residents seeking to work as emergency snow shovelers — a policy critics say conflicts with his opposition to voter ID laws.
The New York City Department of Sanitation outlines strict documentation rules for those applying to join its emergency snow removal workforce. According to the agency’s website, applicants must submit two small photographs measuring between 1 and 1.5 square inches, present two original forms of identification along with photocopies, and provide a Social Security card.
On Saturday, Mamdani encouraged residents to take part in the city’s snow response efforts, urging them to report to local sanitation garages with the necessary paperwork in hand.
“For those who want to do more to help your neighbors and earn some extra cash, you too can become an emergency snow shoveler. Just show up at your local sanitation garage… with your paperwork which is accessible online,” Hizzoner said at a presser Saturday.
Workers hired for snow removal are paid $19.14 per hour, with compensation increasing to $28.71 per hour once they exceed 40 hours in a week, according to the sanitation department.
Mamdani, who is affiliated with the New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, has opposed voter identification laws, including the SAVE Act. The organization has sharply criticized such legislation, labeling it discriminatory.
“Our candidates for office stand firm against racist voter ID laws and secret poll taxes like the ‘SAVE America Act,’” The DSA’s website stated.
The contrast between the city’s hiring requirements and Mamdani’s political stance prompted swift reaction online, where critics accused him of inconsistency.
“This is Jim SNOW 2.0,” Fox News host Jimmy Failla quipped on X.
“No joke. To register to shovel snow in Mamdani’s NYC….for the impending snowstorm, you need two types of identification. Can’t make this up,” X user Casey Cook posted.
“Mamdani’s snow shovellers must be ‘Eligible to work in the United States,’” an X user posted above a gif of Greta Thunberg mouthing “how dare you.”
The controversy unfolds as meteorologists warn that the city could receive up to 24 inches of snow from a powerful blizzard forecast to strike the East Coast on Sunday and Monday.
Forecasters say wind gusts may reach 60 miles per hour, with snowfall rates projected at one to three inches per hour at the height of the storm.
{Matzav.com}
The head of Uganda’s military said on Thursday that his country is set to unveil a statue of IDF Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, the older brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was killed in action in Uganda during a counter-terrorism operation that rescued more than 100 hostages almost 50 years ago.
“In order to strengthen our close blood relations with Israel, we shall soon unveil a statue to Yoni Netanyahu at the exact spot he was killed at Entebbe Airport,” tweeted Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the chief of the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) and the son of the country’s President Yoweri Museveni.
“Yoni was the big brother of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Godbless Uganda and Israel,” he added.
Yonatan Netanyahu died while commanding soldiers in a raid to free 102 hostages at Entebbe airport in Uganda on July 4, 1976.
On June 27, 1976, Palestinian and German terrorists hijacked an Air France plane en route from Israel to Paris with 248 passengers onboard and forced it to fly to Uganda’s main airport in Entebbe. Uganda’s government provided cover for the hijackers, who were welcomed personally by dictator Idi Amin.
The terrorists separated the Israelis and Jews from the larger group of hostages and forced them into another room. On the first day, 47 non-Israeli hostages were released. The next day, 101 more non-Israeli hostages were allowed to leave.
More than 100 Israeli and Jewish passengers remained as the hijackers threatened to kill them if their demands were not met.
Israel’s response was “Operation Thunderbolt,” led by Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu. His 29-man General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal) was given the primary task of attacking the airport terminal and rescuing the hostages.
The operation took place under cover of night and rescued 102 hostages. Yoni Netanyahu was killed and five Israeli commandos were wounded.
“Operation Thunderbolt” was renamed “Operation Yonatan” in his memory. JNS
A jury in England this week convicted a woman from Brighton of stealing the poster of an Israeli man whom Hamas had murdered on Oct. 7, 2023, before she threw it in a trash can.
The judge at Lewes Crown Court in East Sussex handed Fiona Monro, 58, a prosecution expenses bill of £1,200 ($1,614) and an 18-month suspended sentence for binning the poster of Tsachi Idan in February 2024, the Brighton and Hove News reported.
A cousin of Idan, Adam Ma’anit, lives in Hove and had placed a poster of his slain relative on a square in Brighton. It had been removed or vandalized dozens of times, according to the report.
Monro confessed to removing the poster but argued it was not placed on the square with a license and therefore was not under the protection of laws against theft. She also used a black marker in February 2024 to scrawl slogans about Palestinians slain in Gaza and was charged with vandalism, but the jury acquitted her of those charges, the paper reported.
Steve Winston, managing director of the National Jewish Assembly, a British-Jewish advocacy group, said it “welcomes the fact that this individual was found guilty and held accountable, but tearing down a hostage poster and defacing a memorial is not protest, it is the erasure of Jewish grief in a climate where antisemitism is increasingly normalized.”
This behavior, he told JNS, “does nothing for the Palestinian cause and only exposes how, for too many activists, hostility to Jews overrides any genuine concern for Palestinian lives.”Monro’s husband is Tony Greenstein, an anti-Israel activist who is Jewish and was expelled from the Labour Party in 2016 for antisemitism. He has called Israel “Hitler’s … offspring” and helped mainstream the antisemitic pejorative “Zio.”
Monro cited her marriage to Greenstein in defending against the charges in court, the Brighton and Hove News reported. She claimed that Zionists had “exaggerated evidence” against her, the paper reported. She had also said she objected to the poster because it was “Zionist propaganda.”
Brighton is an affluent coastal city where Labour and the Green Party received more votes in the 2024 election than all other parties combined.
Posters of missing or dead Israelis, killed in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack, have been removed, defaced or stolen across the West, British public intellectual Douglas Murray noted in his latest book, On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization, which was published last year.
In Western cities, “people, often young women, jubilantly and exultantly ripped away at the posters,” Murray noted. In Dublin, relatives of Kfir Bibas, a boy who died as a captive in Gaza after Hamas kidnapped him at the age of 8 months along with his brother and parents, encountered a ripped-out poster of the toddler, Murray added.
“While Israelis protested daily for the return of the hostages, Western populations seemed to consider even recognizing the plight of these people as an affront, a terrible provocation, that must be repelled,” he wrote. JNS
A third round of indirect nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran is planned for early March, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday.
“The negotiations continue and the possibility of reaching an interim agreement exists,” the official said.
The session would be a continuation of Oman-mediated meetings held earlier this month in Muscat and Geneva. The talks are taking place amid a massive U.S. military buildup in the Middle East and rising tensions.
Iran and the United States remain divided over how far and how fast to lift sanctions on Tehran in exchange for nuclear constraints, the official said, asserting that the regime could seriously consider exporting part of its highly enriched uranium stockpile, diluting the purity of that material and joining a regional uranium enrichment consortium, provided its right to “peaceful nuclear enrichment” is formally recognized.
Washington and Jerusalem have long accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapons capability, a charge Tehran denies. The White House says stopping Iran from obtaining a bomb is a top priority, and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has voiced strong skepticism about any deal with Tehran, arguing the regime cannot be trusted.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday that he expected to have a draft counterproposal ready within days following the indirect nuclear talks with the U.S. in Geneva earlier in the week, while President Donald Trump has said he is weighing limited military strikes against Iran as two aircraft carriers and hundreds of warplanes are positioned in Middle Eastern waters ready for the president to authorize an attack if he decides to do so.
The senior Iranian official added that Tehran will not cede control over its oil and mineral resources, though U.S. companies could participate as contractors in Iran’s oil and gas fields.
Graham vs Trump advisers on Iran strike
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is urging Trump to move ahead with military strikes on the Iranian regime despite opposition from some of the president’s own advisers, Axios reported on Sunday.
“I understand concerns about major military operations in the Middle East given past entanglements. However, the voices who counsel against getting entangled seem to ignore the consequences of letting evil go unchecked,” the Trump ally told reporter Barak Ravid on Saturday.
Ravid reported that Trump has been presented with military options that include targeting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son and possible successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, even as U.S. officials signal limited flexibility in possible nuclear talks with Tehran, including openness to an Iranian proposal allowing only “token” uranium enrichment under strict conditions that bar any path to a bomb.
Graham, who recently visited Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, told Axios he believes there is a chance “to bring about historic change” in Iran but warned that “voices opposing entanglement and the risk associated with decisive action are getting louder.
“I have a lot of respect for President Trump. He is his own man. And as with all presidents, he will be held responsible for his decisions on such weighty matters,” Graham said, adding that “history will be very clear as to where I stood, for better or worse.”
Other Trump advisers are pressing the president to hold off on airstrikes and instead use the threat of force to extract concessions, and some in his inner circle question the wisdom of embarking on a regime-change operation in Iran, Axios reported.
Ali Larijani tapped to ensure regime survives
Iran’s supreme leader has handed sweeping authority to Ali Larijani, his top national security official, to steer the Islamic Republic through the prospect of war with the United States and potential succession turmoil, effectively sidelining President Masoud Pezeshkian, The New York Times reported on Sunday.
Drawing on senior Iranian officials and Revolutionary Guards members, the report said Larijani is overseeing the crackdown on anti-government protests, managing nuclear talks with Washington and partners such as Russia, Qatar and Oman, and drafting wartime contingency plans that assume U.S. strikes are imminent.
Khamenei has ordered several layers of successors for key military and government posts and empowered a tight inner circle, including Larijani and parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, to ensure the state can function even if top leaders are killed or communications are cut.
Protests resume in Iran
Students at several Iranian universities held rare anti-government demonstrations on Saturday, the largest since last month’s deadly crackdown on protesters.
Verified footage showed students at Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology marching on campus before clashes erupted with government supporters. A sit-in was reported at another Tehran university and a rally in Iran’s northeast, as students commemorated those killed in the January unrest.
Trump said on Friday that the Islamic Republic killed 32,000 people “over a relatively short period of time,” referring to the regime’s crackdown on nationwide protests that erupted in late December.
“It is a very, very sad situation …, they were going to hang … some by crane. They lift them up with a tall crane, and they play them around the square. They were going to hang 837 people. … I feel very badly for the people of Iran, they’ve lived in hell,” the president said. JNS
A man in his early 20s was shot and killed Sunday after attempting to enter a restricted area at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida, the U.S. Secret Service said. Trump was in Washington at the time of the incident.
According to a statement from the Secret Service, agents and a deputy from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office confronted the man after he entered the secured perimeter carrying what officials described as “what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can.” During the encounter, law enforcement officers opened fire, killing him.
Authorities said the man’s name has not yet been made public due to “pending notification of next of kin.”
Detailing the confrontation, the agency said: “U.S. Secret Service agents and a PBSO deputy confronted the individual and shots were fired by law enforcement during the encounter,” the Secret Service statement said. “No U.S. Secret Service or PBSO personnel were injured.”
Officials identified the suspect as a North Carolina resident in his early 20s who had recently been reported missing by family members. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said investigators believe the man left North Carolina and traveled south, obtaining a shotgun along the way.
Guglielmi added that the firearm’s box was later recovered inside the suspect’s vehicle.
Investigators said the man drove through the north gate of the Mar-a-Lago property while another vehicle was exiting. He was quickly intercepted by Secret Service agents. After confronting the armed individual, agents shot him. Authorities are now working to assemble a psychological profile, and his motive remains under investigation.
Trump has previously been the target of threats and assassination attempts. On July 13, 2024, he was injured when a gunman opened fire during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
In a separate incident on Sept. 15, 2024, a man armed with a rifle was apprehended after lying in wait near Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach while the president was playing. That individual was sentenced to life in prison earlier this month.
The shooting at Mar-a-Lago comes amid a broader pattern of political violence across the United States in recent years. Last year alone saw the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the killing of the Democratic leader of the Minnesota state House and her husband, the shooting of another lawmaker and his wife, and an arson attack at the official residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Saturday’s breach at Trump’s Florida residence occurred just a few miles from his West Palm Beach golf club, where another assassination attempt unfolded during the 2024 election season. In that case, a Secret Service agent spotted a man, later identified as Ryan Routh, aiming a rifle through bushes before Trump came into view. Officials said Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, prompting him to drop the weapon.
Routh was convicted last year and received a life sentence earlier this month.
That episode had followed the earlier Pennsylvania rally shooting in which a gunman fired eight rounds, one of which grazed Trump’s ear. The attacker was subsequently killed by a Secret Service counter sniper.
{Matzav.com}
Major U.S. airlines voiced frustration after the Department of Homeland Security announced it would temporarily suspend its PreCheck and Global Entry programs, saying travelers were given little advance notice before the decision took effect. The suspension comes as much of the agency remains affected by a partial government shutdown.
The pause in the DHS-run programs is set to begin at 6 a.m. ET (1100 GMT) on Sunday. The disruption follows last week’s partial shutdown, which was triggered after Republicans and Democrats were unable to reach an agreement on immigration enforcement reforms.
Airlines for America criticized the move, warning that passengers are once again being caught in the middle of a political standoff. “Airlines for America is deeply concerned that … the traveling public will be, once again, used as a political football amid another government shutdown,” Chief Executive Chris Sununu said.
Sununu also said the timing of the announcement left travelers scrambling. News of the suspensions came at “extremely short notice to travelers, giving them little time to plan accordingly,” he added in a statement, urging Congress to “get a deal done.”
He noted that a similar shutdown last fall inflicted significant financial damage on the broader travel sector, estimating losses of $6.1 billion across the industry and related businesses.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the agency’s decision, saying resources must be redirected during the funding lapse. “TSA and Customs and Border Protection are prioritizing the general traveling population at our airports and ports of entry and suspending courtesy and special privilege escorts,” she said.
Noem added that DHS was being forced to make difficult operational choices in response to the funding shortfall. “We are making tough but necessary workforce and resource decisions to mitigate the damage,” she said in a statement to Reuters.
According to the Washington Post, the suspension of traveler programs is part of a broader set of emergency steps DHS is implementing to shift personnel and manage operations more than a week after Congress failed to approve additional funding.
The programs affected serve tens of millions of travelers. In 2024, the Transportation Security Administration reported that PreCheck had more than 20 million active members. Across all DHS trusted traveler programs, including Global Entry, the total number of vetted airline passengers surpassed 40 million.
PreCheck enables enrolled passengers to use dedicated security lanes at U.S. airports, allowing for faster screening and shorter wait times. The program is designed to streamline airport security for approved travelers.
Global Entry provides expedited customs and immigration processing for pre-approved, low-risk international travelers returning to the United States.
The latest action follows a directive from the Trump administration last week instructing another DHS component, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to halt the deployment of disaster relief personnel to affected areas as a result of the shutdown.
{Matzav.com}Multiple Arab governments issued sharp condemnations of US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee after he voiced support for Israel’s control over territory across the Middle East, including Judea and Samaria, calling his remarks inflammatory, unlawful, and diplomatically inappropriate.
The controversy followed a podcast interview released Friday in which Huckabee spoke with American journalist Tucker Carlson. During the discussion, he defended Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and expressed belief in what he described as “divine providence” granting Israel authority over the land.
Citing a biblical claim to territory extending from the Nile River to the Euphrates River, Huckabee said, “It would be fine if they (Israel) took it all.”
After Huckabee referenced Israel’s religious claim to the broader region, Carlson pressed him for clarification, asking, “What land are you talking about?” Scholars differ in their interpretation of the biblical term “river of Egypt,” with some identifying it as a wadi in the Sinai Peninsula and others interpreting it as the Nile itself.
BREAKING: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee tells Tucker Carlson that Israel has the Biblical right to take over all of the Middle East.
“It would be fine if they took it all.” pic.twitter.com/BN4fXh03ga
— Tucker Carlson Network (@TCNetwork) February 20, 2026
Reaffirming his earlier point, Huckabee responded, “It would be fine if they took it all,” again referencing what he described as Israel’s biblical entitlement to land between the Nile and the Euphrates. He added, however, that Israel is not attempting to dominate the entire Middle East, but maintains a right to exist within areas currently under its sovereignty.
Jordan was among the first to react. In an official statement, its Foreign Ministry labeled the ambassador’s remarks “absurd and provocative,” asserting that they “constitute a violation of diplomatic norms, an infringement on the sovereignty of states in the region, and a blatant breach of international law and the UN Charter.”
The Jordanian government further stated that Huckabee’s comments “contradict the publicly declared position of US President Donald Trump rejecting annexation of the occupied West Bank.”
Amman called for “the concerted efforts of all parties to consolidate stability in Gaza and to implement the US president’s plan and UN Security Council Resolution 2803, instead of issuing absurd, escalatory, irresponsible statements that carry no legal value or effect.”
Egypt also formally protested the remarks. In a statement from its Foreign Ministry, Cairo described the ambassador’s comments as a “flagrant departure” from the principles set out in international law and the UN Charter.
Egyptian officials expressed astonishment at the statements, arguing they conflict with President Trump’s previously outlined vision and the accompanying 20-point framework intended to bring an end to the war in Gaza. They also referenced conclusions reached at a Board of Peace conference in Washington held Thursday.
Cairo reiterated that Israel holds no sovereignty over what it called “occupied Palestinian land” or other Arab territories. It stressed its total opposition to any effort to annex Judea and Samaria, sever it from Gaza, or expand “settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
Saudi Arabia joined the condemnation, with its Foreign Ministry declaring “in the strongest terms” its rejection of what it described as Huckabee’s “reckless remarks.” Riyadh said the statements violate international law, the UN Charter, and diplomatic standards, and warned that such rhetoric from a US official sets a dangerous example while disregarding the region’s long-standing ties with Washington.
In its statement, the Saudi government cautioned that such extreme comments “threaten international peace and security” by provoking tensions among nations and populations in the region and eroding the foundations of the global order.
Riyadh called on the US State Department to clarify its stance on what it characterized as a dismissed proposal and reaffirmed its unwavering opposition to any violation of national sovereignty, territorial boundaries, or state integrity.
The Saudi statement further emphasized that a lasting and comprehensive peace can only be achieved by ending the occupation through a two-state solution and establishing an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 lines with eastern Jerusalem as its capital.
Oman also voiced its objection. Its Foreign Ministry described the ambassador’s comments as an unlawful endorsement of imposing authority over Arab territories.
Muscat said the remarks run counter to international law and the UN Charter and warned that such language damages prospects for peace while jeopardizing stability and security in the region.
The Omani government reaffirmed its steadfast backing of the Palestinian Arab people’s right to self-determination and the creation of an independent state based on the June 4, 1967 borders with eastern Jerusalem as its capital, as well as ending the “occupation of all Arab territories.”
{Matzav.com}
