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A bus crash early in the day in Mississippi killed seven people and injured dozens more when the vehicle rolled over after experiencing a tire failure, according to the state’s highway patrol and federal transportation authorities.

A pair of siblings – a 6-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl – were among the seven that died, said Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey, adding that he was still working to identify the remaining five victims. The siblings’ mother survived the crash.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol responded to a crash about 12:40 a.m. on Interstate 20 near Bovina, a city roughly 35 miles west of Jackson. A 2018 Volvo commercial passenger bus traveling westward had gone off the road and was overturned, the agency said in a statement.

Six passengers were pronounced dead at the scene, and one died at Merit Health River Region in Vicksburg, officials said. Thirty-seven others were transported to hospitals across Vicksburg and Jackson.

Local media footage of the crash site showed a large red bus with shattered windows, parts of its exterior crumpled.

The National Transportation Safety Board said on social media that it would send a go-team to conduct an investigation into Saturday’s crash. The team is expected to arrive Saturday evening.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol and the state’s Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division are also investigating, officials said.

(c) Washington Post

Brazil started blocking Elon Musk’s social media platform X early Saturday, making it largely inaccessible on both the web and through its mobile app after the company refused to comply with a judge’s order. X missed a deadline imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to name a legal representative in Brazil, triggering the suspension. It marks an escalation in the monthslong feud between Musk and de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. To block X, Brazil’s telecommunications regulator, Anatel, told internet service providers to suspend users’ access to the social media platform. As of Saturday at midnight local time, major operators began doing so. De Moraes had warned Musk on Wednesday night that X could be blocked in Brazil if he failed to comply with his order to name a representative, and established a 24-hour deadline. The company hasn’t had a representative in the country since earlier this month. “Elon Musk showed his total disrespect for Brazilian sovereignty and, in particular, for the judiciary, setting himself up as a true supranational entity and immune to the laws of each country,” de Moraes wrote in his decision on Friday. The justice said the platform will stay suspended until it complies with his orders, and also set a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) for people or companies using VPNs to access it. In a later ruling, he backtracked on his initial decision to establish a 5-day deadline for internet service providers themselves — and not just the telecommunications regulator — to block access to X, as well as his directive for app stores to remove virtual private networks, or VPNs. The dispute also led to the freezing this week of the bank accounts in Brazil of Musk’s satellite internet provider Starlink. Brazil is one of the biggest markets for X, which has struggled with the loss of advertisers since Musk purchased the former Twitter in 2022. Market research group Emarketer says some 40 million Brazilians, roughly one-fifth of the population, access X at least once per month. “This is a sad day for X users around the world, especially those in Brazil, who are being denied access to our platform. I wish it did not have to come to this – it breaks my heart,” X’s CEO Linda Yaccarino said Friday night, adding that Brazil is failing to uphold its constitution’s pledge to forbid censorship. X had posted on its official Global Government Affairs page late Thursday that it expected X to be shut down by de Moraes, “simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents.” “When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment. Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts,” the company wrote. X has clashed with de Moraes over its reluctance to comply with orders to block users. Accounts that the platform previously has shut down on Brazilian orders include lawmakers affiliated with former President Jair Bolsonaro’s right-wing party and activists accused of undermining Brazilian democracy. X’s lawyers in April sent a document to the Supreme Court in April, saying that since 2019 it had suspended or blocked 226 users. In his decision Friday, de Moraes’ cited Musk’s statements as evidence that X’s conduct […]

In this episode of “Inside the Agudah,” Rabbi Abba Cohen, vice president for government affairs and Washington director and counsel at Agudath Israel of America, sits with Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger, Agudath Israel’s Director of Torah Initiatives, to discuss his work on behalf of the frum community. Appointed to the Agudah’s fledgling office in Washington D.C. decades ago by Rabbi Moshe Sherer, Rabbi Cohen has distinguished himself as an exemplary and respected advocate for the Jewish community in our nation’s capital. Knowledgeable, experienced and a true public servant who has represented the Agudah on a variety of matters both to the federal and to foreign governments, Rabbi Cohen’s efforts have paved the way for many successful initiatives that have brought significant benefits to the klal. Watch and learn more about what Rabbi Cohen and the Agudah do each day.

WATCH:

A recent Channel 12 poll reveals that a significant majority of Israelis think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should step down and not run in the next elections. According to the survey, 69% of respondents believe Netanyahu should resign when elections are held, while only 22% support his candidacy for prime minister. Even among coalition party voters, the sentiment is divided, with 46% favoring his resignation and 43% supporting another run.

Israel’s Security Cabinet voted over the weekend in support of Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s stance of maintaining an Israel Defense Forces presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt, in any hostages-for ceasefire-and-terrorists-release deal with Hamas.

Eight ministers voted in favor, while Defense Minister Yoav Gallant opposed the measure and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir abstained.

The ministers effectively approved several maps showing how Israel will preserve troop deployments along the corridor, previously Hamas’s main conduit for smuggling weapons to Gaza, through a vast network of tunnels.

The maps have reportedly been incorporated into the “bridging proposal” the U.S. put out two weeks ago that Jerusalem accepted but Hamas rejected.

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas to reconsider its position, following meetings with senior officials in Jerusalem.

“In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu … he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal, that he supports it. It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same,” said Blinken.

“The single quickest, best, most effective way to relieve the terrible suffering of the Palestinians that was instigated by Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7 and the war that ensued is to complete this agreement,” he added.

During a Cabinet meeting this month, Netanyahu said that he is “prepared to go very far to release all of our hostages, while maintaining the security of Israel.”

The premier said that Hamas is demanding “that Israel not be able to return to the war [following a ceasefire]. It demands that we withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah Crossing [between Gaza and Egypt]—its lifelines, which would allow it to rearm and rebuild its strength. It is important to determine the principle: We are not leaving from there.

“Hamas is also unprepared to allow any mechanism to check for and prevent the passage of munitions and terrorists to the northern Gaza Strip. It is doing all this because it wants to recover and rebuild, and return again and again to the massacre of October 7, as it has promised to do,” Netanyahu continued.

“The fact is that it is Hamas which is preventing the release of our hostages, and which continues to oppose the outline, and not the government of Israel, which has accepted it. Whoever, like us, wants the release of our hostages needs to direct the pressure onto Hamas, and not onto the government of Israel,” he added.

The latest round of hostage negotiations ended without results as the Israeli delegation led by Mossad chief David Barnea returned home from Cairo last Sunday.

Despite the lack of progress, Washington responded optimistically, calling the talks “constructive.” U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the Biden Administration was working “feverishly” to reach a deal.

Off-and-on negotiations have continued for months with the U.S., Egypt and Qatar acting as mediators.

One hundred and seven hostages—alive and dead—remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza. JNS

{Matzav.com}

The Prime Minister’s Office, this evening (Saturday, 31 August 2024) [translated from Hebrew]: Reports about a general ceasefire in order to administer polio vaccines in Gaza are false. Israel will allow a humanitarian corridor only, through which vaccination personnel may pass; designated safe areas will also be established for administering the vaccines during certain hours. Israel views with importance the prevention of a polio outbreak in the Gaza Strip, including for the purpose of preventing the spread of diseases in the region.

According to a new report by the Gaza Division that was given to IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi and published by N12 News, over 6,000 Gazans invaded Israel during the October 7 massacre. This figure is nearly double the previously estimated amount, and dramatically increases the scope of Israel’s security failure on October 7th.

Per the report, about 3,800 of the invaders were members of the Nukhba force, elite Hamas terrorists. An additional 2,200 Gazans, including official terrorists and looters, joined in the attack.

Furthermore, the report identifies 119 breaches of the border with Israel, almost double the previous estimate of 60 breaches.

Meanwhile inside Gaza, the report says that some 1,000 terrorists fired 4,300 rockets at Israel, also a much higher figure than previously thought.

N12 journalist Omri Maniv responded on X to the shocking report, saying: “These numbers are simply inconceivable. They are double what we knew, and they further reveal the depth of the failure and the strength of Hamas’s raid.”

Following the publication of the report, the IDF stated that: “the operational investigation has not yet been concluded and continues in accordance with the situation assessment and operational constraints. Once it is completed, it will be presented to the public in full transparently.”

A U.S. military operation Thursday in Iraq killed at least 15 Islamic State militant group fighters, and at least six U.S. soldiers suffered injuries, three U.S. defense officials said

The commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s central Gaza brigade, Muhammad Qatrawi, was killed in an airstrike on Thursday, the IDF and Shin Bet announce.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired two missiles targeting a Liberian-flagged container ship in the Gulf of Aden, though the projectiles splashed down nearby without causing any damage, authorities said Saturday. The attack comes after the Houthis repeatedly assaulted and then boarded a Greek-flagged oil tanker in the nearby Red Sea, planting explosives on it they later detonated. That attack, the worst in weeks, risked a major oil spill as the rebels’ campaign disrupts the $1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, as well as halting some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen. In the attack Friday night, two missiles exploded in close proximity to the vessel some 240 kilometers (150 miles) east of Aden, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. The ship “reports all crew are safe and proceeding to next port of call,” the UKMTO said. “Investigations are ongoing.” The Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational body overseen by the U.S. Navy, on Saturday identified the vessel targeted as the Liberian-flagged container ship Groton. The Groton came under attack Aug. 3 as well in a similar Houthi assault off Aden that included two missiles fired at the vessel, with one causing minor damage. The ship “was targeted due to other vessels within its company structure making recent port calls in Israel,” the center said. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack in a prerecorded video address aired Saturday night. He claimed, without offering evidence, the missiles hit the Groton. Saree and other Houthi officials have exaggerated details about attacks in the past. The Houthis have targeted more than 80 vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a United States-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets. The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the U.K. to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran. Meanwhile, the U.S. military’s Central Command said Saturday it destroyed two drones over Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen. (AP)

An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed and three others were wounded on Shabbos during clashes with Hamas terrorists in Jenin in northern Shomron.

The slain man was named as St. Sgt. Elkana Navon, 20, of the Bislamach Brigade’s 906th Training Battalion, from Petach Tikvah.

Bislamach is an acronym for the School for Infantry Corps Professions and Squad Commanders—the IDF body responsible for training all infantry squad commanders and platoon sergeants.

Israel launched the large-scale operation in the Jenin and Tulkarem areas overnight Tuesday, involving hundreds of soldiers and air support. Troops were also active in the Far’a camp in Tubas.

According to an IDF investigation, troops conducting a counterterror raid in Jenin engaged in a firefight with two high-ranking Hamas members, killing both of them. Four soldiers were struck by the gunfire, including Navon.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi held an assessment in Jenin with senior officers earlier on Shabbos.

The goal of the ongoing operation is to hit as much terrorist infrastructure as possible in northern Shomron and the Jordan Valley, with an emphasis on neutralizing explosives and locating terrorist operatives.

Israel’s United Nations Ambassador Danny Danon on Thursday morning responded to Secretary-General António Guterres’s call for a halt to IDF activity in Yehuda and Shomron.

“Since Oct. 7, Iran has been working vigorously to introduce into Yehuda and Shomron sophisticated explosive devices that are intended to detonate in the centers of Israeli cities,” Danon tweeted.

“The State of Israel cannot sit idly by and wait for the spectacle of buses and cafes exploding in city centers. The activity of the IDF forces in Yehuda and Shomron is intended for the clear purpose of thwarting terrorist attacks and acts before they are carried out under Iranian direction.”

The death toll among Israeli troops on all fronts since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre now stands at 705, according to official military data.

Additionally, Ch. Insp. Arnon Zamora, a member of the Border Police’s Yamam National Counter-Terrorism Unit, was fatally wounded during a hostage-rescue mission in Gaza in June, and civilian defense contractor Liron Yitzhak was mortally wounded in the Strip in May.

(JNS)

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Atica, known for its non-iron luxury dress shirts, has opened a new showroom in Lakewood, expanding its offerings to include high-end canvassed suits, coats, ties, shoes, and accessories. To celebrate, the store is offering a 20% discount on all items during its grand opening from August 25th to September 3rd. Atica began as an online retailer before opening its first physical store in Crown Heights, where it quickly became a favorite for its quality, durability, and affordability. The new 4,000 square foot showroom in Lakewood, located at Brewers Bridge Plaza, features state-of-the-art design and offers a top-tier made-to-measure service. “We’re proud to bring a new level of luxury shopping to Lakewood,” said store manager Yosef Kassover. “We offer an elevated selection of luxury products, which will look and feel great for a long time.” Shoppers can visit in-store or use the code GRAND20 at aticaman.com to enjoy the discount. Visit Atica at: 2080 County Line Rd, Jackson, NJ (Adjacent to Borsalino) Phone: (814) 962-6354

AAA says holiday travel for Labor Day weekend is expected to be up 9% compared to 2023, with most people driving to their destinations. The national average for gas prices is $3.36 per gallon, nearly 50 cents lower than last year.

The Northern Lights danced over Seattle late Friday night!

During combat in the Gaza Strip, Israel Defense Forces troops located several corpses that may belong to abducted Israelis, the military said on Motzei Shabbos.

“Forces are still operating in the area and working to extract and identify the bodies, which will last several hours,” the IDF said.

The military called on the public not to spread rumors.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces rescued a hostage alive from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip. Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, a father of 11 from the Bedouin city of Rahat in the Negev, was rescued from a tunnel in southern Gaza in a “complex operation.”

Upon leaving Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva on Wednesday, Alkadi expressed the desire to see his mother and daughters, adding, “Whether you’re Arab or Jewish, everyone has a family waiting for them. They all want to celebrate. I hope and pray this will end.”

“I wouldn’t wish my experience on anyone,” said Alkadi, who spent nearly 11 months in captivity. “I even told the Prime Minister [Bibi Netanyahu] to put an end to this. It’s hard for everyone, Jewish and Arab alike.”

Also on Wednesday, the IDF recovered the body of a soldier in the Gaza Strip who was killed fighting Hamas operatives during the terrorist invasion of the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7.

At the request of the soldier’s family, his name has not yet been made public.

(JNS)

Recent assessments have revealed that the number of Gazans who breached the Israeli border on October 7 was double what was initially believed, according to a report by Channel 12 on Saturday. Data from the Israel Defense Forces’ Gaza Division shows that around 3,800 members of Hamas’s elite Nukhba forces were among the estimated 6,000 Gazans who crossed into Israel that day. This significant increase highlights the scale of the infiltration during the attack.

The United States military and Iraq launched a joint raid targeting suspected Islamic State group militants in the country’s western desert that killed at least 15 people and left seven American troops hurt, officials said Saturday. For years after dislodging the militants from their self-declared caliphate across Iraq and Syria, U.S. forces have fought the Islamic State group, though the casualties from this raid were higher than in previous ones. The U.S. military’s Central Command said the militants were armed with “numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive ‘suicide’ belts” during the raid Thursday, which Iraqi forces said happened in the Anbar Desert. “This operation targeted ISIS leaders to disrupt and degrade ISIS’ ability to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against Iraqi civilians, as well as U.S. citizens, allies, and partners throughout the region and beyond,” Central Command said, using an acronym for the militant group. “Iraqi Security Forces continue to further exploit the locations raided.” It added: “There is no indication of civilian casualties.” An Iraqi military statement said “airstrikes targeted the hideouts, followed by an airborne operation.” “Among the dead were key ISIS leaders,” Iraq’s military said, without identifying them. “All hideouts, weapons and logistical support were destroyed, explosive belts were safely detonated and important documents, identification papers and communication devices were seized.” A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the operation yet to be made public, told The Associated Press that five American troops were wounded in the raid, while two others suffered injuries from falls during the operation. One who suffered a fall was transported out of the region, while one of the wounded was evacuated for further treatment, the official said. “All personnel are in stable condition,” the official said. It wasn’t immediately clear why it took two days for the U.S. to acknowledge it took part in the raid. Iraq did not say the U.S. took part in the operation when initially announcing it, as politicians debate the future of having American troops in the country. There are approximately 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq. Since the U.S. toppled dictator Saddam Hussein with its 2003 invasion of Iraq, the country has struggled to balance relations between America and neighboring Iran. Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, Iraqi militias allied to Iran have targeted U.S. forces there, leading to American airstrikes targeting them. At its peak, the Islamic State group ruled an area half the size of the U.K. It attempted to enforce its extreme interpretation of Islam, which included attacks on religious minority groups and harsh punishment of Muslims deemed to be apostates. A coalition of more than 80 countries led by the United States was formed to fight the group, which lost its hold on the territory it controlled in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019. However, the militants have continued to operate in the Anbar Desert in Iraq and Syria, while claiming attacks carried out by others elsewhere in the world inspired by the group. That includes the two suspects in a foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift shows in Vienna. Meanwhile, the IS branch in Afghanistan is known to carry out intensely bloody assaults. Last month, the U.S. military said the number of attacks claimed by IS in Syria and Iraq was on track to double […]

A small plane carrying two people crashed into a row of townhouses Saturday morning in a neighborhood east of Portland, setting the homes ablaze and leaving at least one resident unaccounted for, authorities said. Gresham Fire Chief Scott Lewis told reporters at an afternoon briefing that he couldn’t yet say if there were any fatalities, noting that fire crews were working around major structural damage to the townhomes as a result of the crash. Photos and videos published by KGW-TV in Portland show one of the townhomes engulfed in flames while black smoke poured out of the adjoining houses. Lewis said the fire spread to at least four of the homes, displacing up to six families. He said two people were treated at the scene, but he didn’t describe the type or severity of injuries. The Federal Aviation Administration identified the aircraft as a twin-engine Cessna 421C, which it says went down around 10:30 a.m. near Troutdale Airport, about a 30-minute drive east of Portland. As the plane went down, it knocked over a pole and power lines, causing a separate brush fire in a nearby field, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office. The plane was split into multiple parts as it crashed in the residential area in the city of Fairview, which is home to about 10,000 people. Lewis said the first call about the fire came from staff at the Troutdale Airport’s control tower, who saw a thick plume of smoke rising in the air. But Lewis said that initial reports indicated “there was no mayday, no call for emergency” from the aircraft itself before it crashed. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the crash. The agency has sent two investigators to the site of the crash who will document the wreckage, spokesperson Peter Knudson said. He did not release further details about the crash. The website for the Port of Portland, which oversees general aviation and marine operations in the Portland area, describes Troutdale Airport as a “flight training and recreational airport.” (AP)

A man was charged with felony aggravated assault after an alleged glass bottle attack on two Jewish students on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh, a city newspaper reported Saturday. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the 52-year-old suspect was also charged with simple assault, reckless endangering, resisting arrest and harassment. The Post-Gazette, citing a criminal complaint, said the man was seen on surveillance video sitting at a table across the street from the students as they walked near Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning on Friday evening. Police say he ran across the street and hit them from behind with the bottle. The students, who were wearing traditional Jewish yarmulke head coverings, were treated at the scene, the university said. One had cuts on his face, and the other had cuts on his neck, the Post-Gazette said, citing the criminal complaint. The suspect, who has no known affiliation with the school, was wearing a kaffiyeh, a traditional checkered scarf worn in the Middle East and increasingly displayed as a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinian people. University leaders were in contact with the Hillel University Center as well as the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. Agents from the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office were also sent to the scene to investigate the possibility of a hate crime, the newspaper said. The university called it an “appalling incident” but said there was no ongoing threat to the public. Counseling was being made available. “To be clear: Neither acts of violence nor antisemitism will be tolerated,” the university said in a statement. Court documents did not list an attorney for the suspect, and a listed number for him couldn’t be found Saturday. The incident came at the end of the first full week of fall semester classes and a few months after spring protests on the campus over the war in Gaza, one of which took place in front of the Cathedral of Learning. (AP)