Feed aggregator

One person has died of gunshot wounds after a bus was hijacked in southeast Los Angeles, authorities said Wednesday.

Los Angeles Police Department officers received radio calls about a disturbance and possible assault with a deadly weapon on a Los Angeles metro bus at about 12:45 a.m. Wednesday, according to the LAPD.

A panic button was activated displaying a “CALL 911” sign on the outside of the bus, according to KTLA. The bus driver was held at gunpoint, according to police.

Officers attempted to make contact with the bus using a public address system at West 117th and South Figueroa streets, where the bus was parked.

“The bus responded by slow-rolling away from the police officers, and a pursuit began that lasted about an hour,” LAPD Deputy Chief Donald Graham said at a news conference Wednesday morning.

As the bus sped toward downtown Los Angeles, officers used multiple spike strips to stop the vehicle near Alameda and East Sixth streets.

SWAT officers entered the bus, rescuing the driver and one passenger, and taking a suspect into custody. The bus driver and passenger were not injured, Graham said.

A second passenger was found in critical condition after suffering multiple gunshot wounds, Graham said. The person was treated by SWAT officers and Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics, then immediately taken to a hospital. The person died shortly after arriving at the hospital, Graham said.

(c) Washington Post

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “I cannot detail everything we are doing, but I can tell you one thing: we are determined to return our northern residents safely to their homes. We are delivering blows to Hezbollah that they could not have imagined. We are doing this with strength, we are doing this with strategy. One thing I promise you—we will not rest until they are home.”

After several days of intense Israeli airstrikes on the southern Lebanese town of Nabatieh, remnants of a heavy munition have been discovered in the rubble of a targeted home. The appearance of the fragments suggests that the weapon may be a variant of the “Fateh-110,” a short-range ballistic missile. The discovery comes after a series of Israeli strikes aimed at Hezbollah positions in the region, intensifying the ongoing conflict in southern Lebanon. Authorities are investigating the fragments to confirm their origin and type.  

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones ‘ Infowars media platform and its assets will be sold off piece by piece in auctions this fall to help pay the more than $1 billion he owes relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, under an order expected to be approved by a federal judge. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston said during a court hearing Tuesday that he will approve the auctions that start in November. But he said he first must change a previous order to make it clear that the trustee overseeing Jones’ personal bankruptcy case controls all the assets of Infowars parent company Free Speech Systems, which is owned 100% by Jones. Despite the pending loss of his company, Jones vows to continue his talk shows through other means, possibly including a new website and his personal social media accounts. He also has suggested that Infowars’ assets could be bought by his supporters, allowing him to continue hosting his show as an employee under the Infowars brand in their home city of Austin, Texas. “It’s very cut and dry that the assets of Free Speech Systems, the website, the equipment, the shopping cart, all that, can be sold,” Jones said on a recent show. “And they know full well that there are a bunch of patriot buyers, and then the operation can ease on.” Jones and his company both filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022 — the same year Sandy Hook families won nearly $1.5 billion in defamation and emotional distress lawsuits against Jones for his repeatedly calling the 2012 school shooting a hoax staged by “crisis actors” to get more gun control legislation passed. Twenty first graders and six educators were killed in the Newtown, Connecticut shooting. During two civil trials in Texas and Connecticut, parents and children of many of the victims testified that they were traumatized by Jones’ hoax conspiracies and his followers’ actions. They said they were harassed and threatened by Jones’ believers, some of whom confronted the grieving families in person saying the shooting never happened and their children never existed. One parent said someone threatened to dig up his dead son’s grave. Jones is appealing the civil jury verdicts, citing free speech rights and questioning whether the families proved any connection between his comments, and the people who harassed and threatened the relatives. He has since acknowledged that the shooting did happen. In June, Lopez converted Jones’ personal bankruptcy reorganization case into a liquidation, meaning many of his assets will be sold off to pay creditors except for his main home and other exempt property. The same day, Lopez also dismissed Free Speech Systems’ bankruptcy case after Jones and the families could not reach agreement on a final plan. The sell-off order Lopez intends to approve would put Infowars’ intellectual property up for auction on Nov. 13 including its trademarks, copyrighted material, social media accounts and websites. Jones’ personal social media sites, including his account on the social platform X, which has 2.8 million followers, would not be included. However, the trustee overseeing Jones’ bankruptcy case, Christopher Murray, said Tuesday that he may soon seek court permission to also liquidate Jones’ personal social media accounts and his other intellectual property — which Jones’ attorneys have opposed. That issue could develop into […]

Three people were wounded in northern Israel on Wednesday by Hezbollah rocket fire, one seriously.

One rocket scored a direct hit on Kibbutz Sa’ar in northern Israel’s Western Galil on Wednesday afternoon, wounding two.

A 35-year-old man was in serious condition and a 52-year-old man in moderate condition, according to the Magen David Adom emergency service. Both were wounded by shrapnel.

United Hatzalah also administered initial treatment to the two victims, with the emergency rescue service organization saying that the construction workers were injured when a building undergoing renovations took a direct hit.

They were taken to nearby Galil Medical Center in Nahariya after initial treatment at the scene.

A 50-year-old woman was lightly wounded by shrapnel when a rocket hit a barn in the Bedouin village of Bir al-Maksur, located some 9 miles northwest of Nazareth, according to United Hatzalah. Several goats and sheep were also killed.

Iran’s Lebanese terror proxy has been inundating northern Israel with rocket fire since launching a ballistic missile at the center of the country earlier in the morning, which was intercepted. The Israeli Air Force destroyed the launcher used in the attack, which was located in the area of Nafakhiye in Lebanon.

The Iranian proxy claimed that the target of the attack was the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. However, Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani was quoted by Reuters as saying that the target cannot be confirmed.

“The result was a heavy missile, going towards Tel Aviv, toward civilian areas in Tel Aviv. The Mossad headquarters is not in that area,” he said.

The Israel Defense Forces said that 30 rockets were launched in Hezbollah’s latest barrage on the Western Galil and towns east of Chaifa.

A 40-rocket salvo in the Upper Galil area preceded it, with one rocket hitting an assisted living facility in Tzfas area, with no injuries reported.

Sirens also sounded in the Central Galil, HaAmakim, Gonen and Lehavot HaBashan in northern Israel.

The IDF said in the afternoon that it had begun conducting strikes in the area of Nabatieh in Southern Lebanon, after earlier in the day announcing that it was attacking extensively in Southern Lebanon and the Beqaa area deep inside Lebanese territory.

On Wednesday morning, IAF fighter jets shot down a drone south of the Kineret that was “approaching from the east” and crossed into Israeli territory from Syria. No injuries or damage were reported in the incident.

Also on Wednesday morning, five projectiles crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory, setting off sirens in the areas of Menashe, Hacarmel and Wadi Ara. Several were intercepted and an impact was detected. Shortly afterward, the IAF struck the launcher, which was located in Tebnine in Southern Lebanon. The IAF also struck dozens of Hezbollah weapons storage facilities.

Hezbollah took responsibility for Wednesday’s attacks, saying it targeted both towns and military bases. The terror army also said two of its members were killed in Israeli strikes, raising the number of Hezbollah terrorists killed since October to at least 510, although the IDF believes that figure to be much higher.

Pager, walkie-talkie attacks put 1,500 terrorists out of commission

Last week’s series of attacks on communication devices in Lebanon put 1,500 Hezbollah terrorists out of commission due to injuries, with many blinded or losing hands, a Hezbollah official told Reuters on Wednesday.

The explosions killed 39 and wounded nearly 3,000 in the worst security breach in Hezbollah’s history. Yerushalayim has neither confirmed or denied its involvement.

According to a report for the U.S. Congress on Friday, the radical Shi’ite terror army boasts 40,000 to 50,000 fighters; Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has claimed the group has 100,000 fighters.

(JNS)

The head of New York City’s public schools system, David Banks, said Tuesday that he will step down at the end of the calendar year, becoming the latest high-ranking departure from Mayor Eric Adams’ administration amid escalating federal criminal investigations. The decision comes weeks after federal agents seized Banks’ phones, as well as devices belonging to the city’s police commissioner, two deputy mayors and a top Adams adviser. The police commissioner, Edward Caban, resigned earlier this month. In a retirement letter shared with The Associated Press, Banks said he informed the mayor this summer of his plan to step down “after ensuring the school year got off to a good start.” A former teacher, principal and founder of a network of all-boys public schools, Banks has led the city’s public school system, the nation’s largest, since Adams took office in 2022. The resignation letter made no reference to the multiple ongoing federal investigations involving senior Adams aides, relatives of those aides, campaign fundraising and possible influence peddling. Adams said in a statement he was “immensely grateful and proud” for what Banks had achieved over his years leading the school system. Banks’ brother, Philip, is a former police officer who now serves as the city’s deputy mayor for public safety. Their brother Terence, a former supervisor in the city’s subway system, has been running a consulting firm that promised to connect clients with top government stakeholders. Earlier this month, federal investigators seized phones from all three Banks brothers, as well as several other high-ranking city officials. David Banks shares a home in Harlem with his partner, Sheena Wright, the first deputy mayor, whose devices were also seized. He previously declined to talk about the search, telling reporters: “I can’t answer those questions.” Federal prosecutors have declined to discuss the investigations publicly. Banks’ announcement comes as Adams is already contending with several other high-profile departures. Earlier this month, his top legal adviser, Lisa Zornberg, resigned abruptly, releasing a brief letter noting she had “concluded that I can no longer effectively serve in my position.” The city’s health commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, will also step down at the end of the year. At a press conference Tuesday, Adams dismissed the idea his administration was facing an exodus as a result of the federal inquiries. “Employees and staffers come and go,” he said. “Very few remain throughout an entire term.” When Adams, a Democrat, appointed David Banks as chancellor, he heralded his friend as a “visionary, leader, innovator, who has spent his career fighting on behalf of students.” Banks founded the Eagle Academy in 2004 to educate young Black and Latino boys who he believed were often poorly served by the educational system. Before his appointment as schools chancellor, Banks ran the foundation that raises funds for the six Eagle Academy schools, one in each New York City borough and one in Newark, New Jersey. (AP)

Foreign ministers from Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan have condemned Israel’s military actions in Lebanon, warning that the escalating violence could push the region toward an all-out war. The joint statement, issued during the UN General Assembly in New York, emphasized the ministers’ concerns over Israel’s ongoing military operations. “The serious escalation going on in the region was discussed,” the ministers said. “Stopping the dangerous escalation under way in the region begins by halting Israel’s aggression in Gaza.” The statement called on the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to take immediate action. “Ministers called on the international community and the Security Council to take their responsibilities in stopping the war, pointing out that Israel bears full responsibility for this deterioration, which will have serious consequences on the region,” they added. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Click here to watch Rabbi Krohn and Rabbi Nosson Neuman talk about his father, Rabbi Moshe Neuman, the renowned and beloved principal of Bais Yakov of Queens who is the subject of ArtScroll’s new title by Rabbi Yechiel Spero, Because He Cared.  Here is a link to a fascinating interview with the legendary Abie Rotenberg as he takes us on a journey to uncover the life and story of one of the greatest sages of all time which he covers in great depth in his book, Rabbi Akiva. In this episode, renowned mechanech and public speaker, Rabbi Nosson Muller, speaks about some of the incredibly uplifting segments of his new, bestselling book, Steps to the Throne, where he guides us through the Yamim Noraim with profound wisdom and heartfelt stories. All the books featured in these videos are available at your local Hebrew bookseller, at artscroll.com or by calling 1-800 MESORAH (637-6724).

[COMMUNICATED]

Yisroel G, a 34-year-old Lubavitch father of three, has been involuntarily incarcerated for four years due to untreated mental illness. Once a beloved entertainer, he now urgently needs funds for medical care, legal representation, and essential support. Without assistance, Yisroel’s health and chances for recovery may decline further. CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Prominent Rabbonim, including Rabbi Aron Lankry and Rabbi Ariel Mekaiten, recognize this situation as a case of piydon shvuyim, highlighting the importance of this mitzvah.

Your generous support can help Yisroel reclaim his life and reunite with his family.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Former President Donald Trump has publicly accused Iran of making significant threats against his life following a briefing from US intelligence agencies about Tehran’s ongoing efforts to target him for assassination.

“Big threats on my life by Iran,” Trump posted early Wednesday on his Truth Social account. “The entire U.S. Military is watching and waiting. Moves were already made by Iran that didn’t work out, but they will try again. Not a good situation for anyone.”

He went on to explain, “I am surrounded by more men, guns, and weapons than I have ever seen before. Thank you to Congress for unanimously approving far more money to Secret Service – Zero ‘NO’ Votes, strictly bipartisan. Nice to see Republicans and Democrats get together on something. An attack on a former President is a Death Wish for the attacker!”

Trump’s campaign followed up on Tuesday, confirming that he had been updated on “real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him, aimed at destabilizing and spreading chaos within the United States.”

According to the campaign, “continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months,” while emphasizing that “law-enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President Trump is protected and the election is free from interference.”

This briefing occurred roughly ten days after a failed assassination attempt, when a gunman tried to kill Trump while he was playing golf at his West Palm Beach course on September 15. This marked the second attempt to assassinate the ex-president in just three months.

In July, reports emerged indicating that US officials had uncovered an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump along with several other former members of his administration. These revelations coincided with an earlier assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump was shot in the ear, and a bystander tragically lost their life.

{Matzav.com}

Donald Trump was briefed by U.S. intelligence officials on Tuesday regarding alleged assassination threats from Iran, his campaign announced. “President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States,” the Trump campaign said in a statement. The campaign noted that these threats have “heightened in the past few months,” and that U.S. government officials are actively working to protect the former president and ensure the upcoming elections are not disrupted. Earlier this month, a Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran pleaded not guilty to charges related to a plot to assassinate a U.S. politician, purportedly in retaliation for the 2020 U.S. killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. The defendant named Trump as a potential target, though sources familiar with the case said it wasn’t part of a broader plot to assassinate the former president. Federal authorities are also investigating two other incidents involving Trump: an apparent assassination attempt at his Florida golf course in mid-September and a shooting at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13. No evidence of Iranian involvement has been found in either case. Additionally, U.S. officials revealed last week that Iranian hackers had stolen and distributed material from Trump’s campaign to individuals connected with Democratic President Joe Biden’s re-election bid. This is part of a larger alleged effort by Tehran to influence the U.S. election. Biden, who stepped down as a candidate in late July, was replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now facing Trump in the race for the November 5 election. In August, the U.S. accused Iran of launching cyber operations against both major presidential campaigns, an allegation Iran has dubiously denied. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Today, the Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi, visited the 7th Brigade’s military exercise at Israel’s northern border. He was accompanied by senior military officials, including the Commanding Officer of the Northern Command, the Commanding Officer of the 98th Division, the Commanding Officer of the Ground Forces Training Center, and other brigade commanders. During the visit, LTG Halevi addressed the troops, emphasizing the ongoing Israeli Air Force strikes and preparations for a potential ground operation. In his remarks, he stated: “You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day. This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah. Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves. Today, we will continue, we are not stopping; we keep striking and hitting them everywhere. The goal is very clear—to safely return the residents of the north. To achieve that, we are preparing the process of a maneuver, which means your military boots, your maneuvering boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts, with underground infrastructure, staging points, and launchpads into our territory and carry out attacks on Israeli civilians. Your entry into those areas with force, your encounter with Hezbollah operatives, will show them what it means to face a professional, highly skilled, and battle-experienced force. You are coming in much stronger and far more experienced than they are. You will go in, destroy the enemy there, and decisively destroy their infrastructure. These are the things that will allow us to safely return the residents of the north afterward.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Donald Trump on Tuesday pledged to stop U.S. businesses from shipping jobs overseas and to take other countries’ jobs and factories by relying heavily on sweeping tariffs to boost auto manufacturing — despite warnings that domestic consumers would pay more and a lack of specifics about how his plans would work. “I want German car companies to become American car companies. I want them to build their plants here,” Trump declared during a speech in Savannah, Georgia. Trump added that, if elected, he’d put a 100% tariff on every car imported from Mexico and that the only way to avoid those charges would be for an automaker to build the cars in the U.S. His ideas, if enacted, could cause a huge upheaval in the American auto industry. Many automakers now build smaller, lower-priced vehicles in Mexico — facilitated by a trade agreement Trump negotiated while president — or in other countries because their profit margins are slim. The lower labor costs help the companies make money on those vehicles. German and other foreign automakers already have extensive manufacturing operations in the U.S., and many now build more vehicles here than they send. BMW, for instance, has an 8 million-square-foot campus in South Carolina that employs 11,000 people building more than 1,500 SUVs per day for the U.S. and 120 export markets. Mercedes and Volkswagen also have large factories here. If German automakers were to increase production here, they likely would have to take it from factories in Germany, which then would run below their capacity and be less efficient, said Sam Abuelsamid, principal research analyst for Guidehouse Insights. “It makes no sense,” he said. Trump proposes a ‘new American industrialism’ — without key specifics Trump has sought to press Vice President Kamala Harris on the economy and has proposed using tariffs on imports and other measures to boost American industry — even as economists have cautioned that U.S. consumers would bear the costs of tariffs and other Trump proposals like staging the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. The former president laid out a broad array of economic proposals during a speech in the key swing state of Georgia, promising to create a special ambassador to help lure foreign manufacturers to the U.S. and further entice them by offering access to federal land. Additionally, he called for lowering the U.S. corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%, but only for companies that produce in the U.S. Harris, the Democratic nominee, wants to raise the corporate tax rate to 28%. It had been 35% when Trump became president in 2017, and he later signed legislation lowering it. “We’re putting America first,” Trump said. “This new American industrialism will create millions and millions of jobs.” And Trump suggested wiping away some environmental regulations to boost energy production, saying America has “got the oil, it’s got the gas. We have everything. The only thing we don’t have is smart people leading our country.” Tuesday’s series of economic proposals raised a lot of questions, but the former president hasn’t given specific answers on his ideas, which could substantially affect their impact and how much they cost. He has not specified, for example, whether his U.S.-focused corporate tax cuts would apply to companies that assemble their products domestically out of imports. Trump also suggested […]

The White House has said that a missile launched by Hezbollah in Lebanon at Tel Aviv in Israel was “deeply concerning” to the United States, but that a diplomatic offramp remains to avoid “all-out war”. “It’s certainly deeply concerning, obviously to the Israelis, of course, but also to us,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told CNN. “There is still time and space for a diplomatic solution here to de-escalate the tensions and to prevent an all-out war.”

The Lebanese Hezbollah terror organization upped its anti-Israel rhetoric, saying it is fighting the Jewish state not just in solidarity with Hamas but also “in defense of Lebanon and its people.”

A statement released by the Iranian proxy group opened with, “Permission to fight has been granted to those for they have been wronged. And indeed, Allah [God] is competent to give them victory,” citing a verse from the Koran.

The statement went on to claim Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel were “In support of our steadfast Palestinian people in Gaza and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance and in defense of Lebanon and its people.”

Reporters for Qatar’s Al Jazeera outlet noted that Tuesday’s statement employed new language and could amount to a formal declaration of war, as previous Hezbollah announcements had only mentioned the Iranian-backed terror group’s support for Gaza and Hamas.

On Sunday morning, Israel served Al Jazeera‘s office in the Samaria city of Ramallah with a 45-day closure order due to what it said was the network’s support for terrorism.

The Hezbollah statement on Tuesday came as the Israel Defense Forces announced the second precision strike in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district in as many days. The target was Ibrahim Qubaisi, the head of Hezbollah’s missile array, according to the IDF.

The strike came less than 24 hours after the attempted assassination of Hezbollah’s No. 3 terrorist commander, Ali Karaki, in the same district.

Hezbollah has attacked Israel nearly daily in support of Hamas since Oct. 8, firing thousands of rockets, missiles and drones. The attacks have killed more than 40 people and caused widespread damage. Tens of thousands of Israelis remain internally displaced due to the violence.

On Tuesday, the IDF said that the Israeli Air Force had struck over 1,600 Hezbollah targets in Southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley over the past 24 hours as part of “Operation Northern Arrows.”

Jerusalem has escalated attacks on Hezbollah since adding the return home of its displaced citizens to its official war goals on Sept. 17. JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

Congress is expected Wednesday to give swift approval to a temporary spending bill that would keep federal agencies funded when the new fiscal year begins next Tuesday, avoiding a potential shutdown showdown just weeks before the Nov. 5 election. The stopgap measure generally funds agencies at current levels through Dec. 20, but an additional $231 million was included to bolster the Secret Service after the two assassination attempts against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Money was also added to aid with the presidential transition, among other things. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., billed the measure as doing “only what’s absolutely necessary,” a statement directed at members of his own conference concerned about spending levels. Still, it’s a no-go for some Republicans, forcing House GOP leadership to rely on Democratic votes to pass the bill through a process that requires at least two-thirds support from voting members. Johnson said the only alternative to the continuing resolution at this stage would be a government shutdown. “It would be political malpractice to shut the government down,” Johnson said. “I think everyone understands that.” If the House passes the temporary funding measure as expected, it will move to the Senate for final approval. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said late Wednesday that he had reached agreement ensuring passage will happen quickly. “This is how things should be done,” Schumer said. “Without brinkmanship, without delay.” Lawmakers in both chambers are anxious to return to their home states and districts to campaign, smoothing the path for passage of a temporary funding fix. But more arduous fiscal negotiations await them at the end of the year. That’s because the bill essentially punts for three months a final decision on full-year spending levels. Under terms of a previous deal to avoid a federal default and allow the government to continue paying its bills, spending for defense and nondefense programs would rise 1% next year. The Senate has charted a course to go above that level, while House Republicans have been voting for steep cuts to many nondefense programs, and they have attached policy mandates to the spending bills that Democrats overwhelmingly oppose. So a final agreement will be difficult to reach. In the meantime, the temporary bill will mostly fund the government at current levels, with a few exceptions like the funding infusion for the Secret Service. The $231 million for the Secret Service does come with strings attached. It’s contingent upon the agency complying with congressional oversight. The bill also allows the Secret Service to spend its allocations faster if needed. “Everybody understands that’s critically important right now,” Johnson said of the Secret Service money. In a recent letter, the Secret Service told lawmakers that a funding shortfall was not the reason for lapses in Trump’s security when a gunman climbed onto an unsecured roof on July 13 at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and opened fire. But acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr., also made clear the agency had “immediate needs” and that he’s talking to Congress. The continuing resolution is needed because Congress is nowhere close to completing work on the dozen annual appropriations bills that fund much of the federal government. The House has passed five of the 12 bills, mostly along party lines. The Senate has passed zero. Johnson also warned […]

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is scheduled to depart for the United States on Thursday, a day later than initially planned, to address the 79th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Friday.

The prime minister is to fly back to Israel on Saturday night, according to a statement from his office.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu will hold a series of security consultations amid the escalating war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

U.S. President Joe Biden delivered his final address to the General Assembly on Tuesday, devoting about three minutes of his nearly 25-minute speech to the Middle East, Israel and Gaza.

Speaking just days before the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, he called on world leaders not to “flinch from the horrors” of that day.

“Any country would have the right and responsibility to ensure that such an attack could never happen again,” said Biden.

He called on Israel and Hamas to accept the ceasefire-for-hostages that he first outlined in May and that has stalled ever since. JNS

{Matzav.com}

One of the drones fired by the “Islamic Resistance” – an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia – overnight Tuesday hit the Ramon Airbase in the Negev. The strike caused extensive damage (as can be seen in the videos below) but b’chasdei Hashem no one was injured. Further details are unknown at this time as the incident is still under a gag order in Israel. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday said it sanctioned two Mexican businesses — an ice cream chain and a local pharmacy — for allegedly using proceeds of fentanyl trafficking to finance their operations tied to the Sinaloa cartel. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control — the U.S. agency that combats illicit funds and money laundering — said people previously cited for money laundering had set up a chain of ice cream and popsicle shops in the state of Sinaloa. The Sinaloa cartel often uses their earnings from international drug trafficking to establish businesses, pouring cash into everything from fraudulent timeshare operations to restaurants to launder money. OFAC said that another individual set up a pharmacy and convenience store using drug proceeds in the northern state of Sonora. “President Biden and Vice President Harris are committed to using every tool at our disposal to combat the cartels that are poisoning our communities with fentanyl and other deadly drugs,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo in a statement. The sanctions come days after the U.S. rejected accusations by Mexico’s President that the U.S. was partly responsible for a surge in cartel warfare that left at least 30 people dead in Sinaloa. The cartel is responsible for a significant portion of fentanyl trafficking into the U.S. They precursor chemicals from China and India to make the synthetic opioid and smuggle it into the United States, where it causes about 70,000 overdose deaths annually. Jesús Norberto Larrañaga Herrera, known as “El 30”, and Karla Gabriela Lizárraga Sánchez, established “Nieves y Paletas,” an ice cream chain with several storefront locations around the capital using drug proceeds, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. OFAC said a retail pharmacy and convenience store in Sonora were tied to drug trafficker José Arnoldo Morgan Huerta, nicknamed “Chachio.” His brother, Juan Carlos Morgan Huerta, known as “Cacayo,” is a Sinaloa cartel “plaza boss” and oversees drug trafficking in the border city of Nogales. “Today’s action is part of a whole-of-government effort to counter the global threat posed by the trafficking of illicit drugs into the United States that is causing the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans annually, as well as countless more non-fatal overdoses,” the U.S. Treasury Department said in the statement. In July, U.S. President Joe Biden announced a series of proposals aimed at curbing the ongoing drug epidemic. These include a push on Congress to pass legislation to establish a pill press and tableting machine registry and enhance penalties against convicted drug smugglers and traffickers of fentanyl. (AP)