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A suspect already charged in a series of rock-throwing incidents across Bergen County, NJ has been taken into custody following an attack on a school bus along the New Jersey Turnpike that left an 8-year-old girl seriously hurt, according to state police.

Investigators named the suspect as Hernando Garcia Morales, 40, last known to have lived in Palisades Park. Authorities said he was arrested Friday at Overpeck Park, where police believe he had been staying in a makeshift campsite close to where the assault occurred.

The incident unfolded Wednesday afternoon as a bus transporting third-grade students from Yeshivat Noam in Paramus was traveling back from a class trip to the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. Police said a rock roughly the size of a baseball was thrown through a bus window, striking the young girl in the head.

The child was rushed to Hackensack University Medical Center, where she was initially reported to be alert and in stable condition. She later underwent surgery, which school officials said was required to ensure proper recovery.

State police said Morales had been awaiting trial on prior cases involving similar behavior. Those included an aggravated assault incident in Bogota last summer that resulted in a two-month jail stay. Court records show he was released in September and then charged twice more in October in cases involving alleged assaults on law enforcement officers.

Authorities also noted that Morales had been involved in other recent encounters with police, including allegations related to criminal mischief and trespassing.

Despite his record, officials said Immigration and Customs Enforcement had not lodged a detainer against Morales as of Saturday, meaning his immigration status is not part of the current case.

Morales is currently being held at the Bergen County jail and is not eligible for release under New Jersey’s bail reform law. Prosecutors have filed multiple charges against him, including aggravated assault, child endangerment, resisting arrest, and weapons-related offenses.

{Matzav.com}

President Trump announced Friday that he is pressing credit card issuers to limit interest charges to 10% for a one-year period starting later this month.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump blasted current rates and said action is needed to protect consumers. “Please be informed that we will no longer let the American Public be ‘ripped off’ by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%, and even more, which festered unimpeded during the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration. AFFORDABILITY!,” he wrote.

Trump said the proposed cap would begin soon. “Effective January 20, 2026, I, as President of the United States, am calling for a one year cap on Credit Card Interest Rates of 10%,” he stated. “Coincidentally, the January 20th date will coincide with the one year anniversary of the historic and very successful Trump Administration.

“Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

The idea of imposing a ceiling on credit card interest is not new for Trump. He previously raised the proposal while campaigning, arguing that families needed relief as they struggled with rising costs.

“While working Americans catch up, we’re going to put a temporary cap on credit card interest rates,” Trump said during a campaign stop at Nassau Coliseum in September 2024.

Banking industry groups pushed back at the time, warning that government-mandated limits could lead lenders to restrict credit access only to borrowers with high incomes and top-tier credit scores.

Trump’s pledge followed a sharp rise in borrowing costs, with average credit card interest rates hitting a record 21.76% in August 2024. Since Trump returned to office, those rates have edged lower, falling to just under 21% — about 20.97% — as of last November.

After Trump first raised the proposal, Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Bernie Sanders of Vermont introduced legislation shortly after Trump’s inauguration that would have imposed a 10% cap on credit card interest rates for five years. The measure was sent to committee and never advanced to a vote.

Reacting to Trump’s latest call, Hawley praised the move and suggested Congress may need to step in to force compliance by lenders. “Fantastic idea. Can’t wait to vote for this,” Hawley wrote on X Friday.

{Matzav.com}

Thousands of anti-ICE protesters have taken to the streets of Los Angeles.

Trump has ordered U.S. special forces to draft invasion plans for Greenland, but senior military leaders say it would be illegal and lack Congressional backing, according to the Daily Mail. * Stephen Miller and hardline advisers, emboldened by the Maduro operation, are pushing to move before Russia or China can act in the Arctic. * […]

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin announced on Saturday a new initiative to expand public bathroom access across the city.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna makes criminal referrals to the DOJ for Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Photo from Tehran shows protesters gathered around a Starlink terminal—their only link to the outside world—holding up pictures of Elon Musk and President Trump in appreciation.

Multiple international airlines, including Turkish Airlines, flydubai, Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, AJet, Pegasus Airlines, Qatar Airways, and China Southern Airlines, have canceled or suspended flights to Iran amid escalating anti-regime protests.

Unconfirmed reports circulating from regional sources and social media claim that Reza Kasab, a commander in Iran’s missile forces in Kashan, was killed when a suicide drone struck his vehicle inside Iran. The reports say the attack originated from within Iran, though no group or government has claimed responsibility.

ICE Watch — a far-left activist network that Renee Nicole Good belonged to before she was killed in Minneapolis — focuses on monitoring and “resisting” immigration enforcement actions by using mobile apps and a rapid-response phone line.

The Minnesota chapter tied to Good, who was 37, describes itself online as “an autonomous collective documenting, archiving, and resisting against ICE, Police, and all Colonial Militarized Regimes,” according to language posted on its Instagram account.

Through its MN ICE Watch page, the organization urges supporters to submit “tips and sightings” of ICE activity around the clock, seven days a week.

Organizers direct participants to provide specifics when reporting activity, including “how many agents are present” and whether “they are detaining/ kidnapping someone,” as well as the location, according to the page.

Activists are also asked to note “what weapons” agents may be carrying and “what vehicles are they present with.”

One recently reshared post advertises training sessions on “how to stand with…neighbors and assert their rights against these illegal injustices across MN and the rest of the Midwest!”

While the broader network, which has chapters nationwide including in New York City, does not explicitly tell supporters to disrupt arrests, it appears to skirt that line.

The Minnesota group, however, reportedly amplified an Instagram post explaining how to “de-arrest” someone.

According to National Review, the post — which was no longer visible as of Friday — encouraged actions such as “physically removing an arrestee from a law enforcement officer’s grips, opening the door of a car or pressuring law enforcement officers to release an arrestee.”

Other content shared by the group includes videos labeled as ICE “kidnapping” incidents, including footage timestamped at 3:20 p.m. on Jan. 2 in Fridley, Minn.

“ICE/Fed agents appear to pull up to the citizens driveway blocking his exit. The ICE/Fed agents open his door detaining and remove him from the truck,” the post declares. “Appears to be 3-4 vehicles, and 6 ICE/fed agents.”

Good, whom a friend referred to as an ICE Watch “warrior,” was shot and killed Wednesday by an ICE agent after her SUV struck him.

{Matzav.com}

Fighting in Gaza could soon flare up again as momentum fades around President Trump’s proposed agreement between Israel and Hamas, according to reports describing a breakdown in progress on the truce.

Israeli defense planners have completed preparations for another ground incursion into Gaza, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials familiar with the discussions.

According to the Times of Israel, the renewed campaign is tentatively slated for March and would concentrate on Gaza City, with the objective of broadening Israeli Defense Force control over key areas.

At the same time, Israeli and Arab officials say Hamas has not moved toward disarmament and instead has been steadily rebuilding its military strength.

The group has reportedly replenished its finances by tapping cash hidden in underground tunnels during the fighting and by imposing taxes on commerce and services throughout Gaza.

Officials also said Hamas has received additional funding from Iran.

With new resources in hand, the organization has resumed paying its fighters and increased recruitment efforts to replace senior operatives killed during the two-year conflict with Israel, according to the report.

Since a cease-fire took effect in October, Hamas has also tightened its grip on Gaza by suppressing rival factions, a move that has triggered violent confrontations across the battered territory.

Oversight of the fragile agreement’s second phase will fall to a newly created Board of Peace, which President Trump is expected to unveil next week along with the names of 15 global leaders who will serve on it. The panel will be responsible for deciding how Hamas’ disarmament would be implemented and what weapons would be included.

Arab officials say Hamas has signaled a readiness to give up what remains of its heavy weaponry but has drawn a firm line against handing over small arms.

“They’ve made an agreement that they’re going to disarm,” Trump said Friday on Fox News. “We’re going to have to assume that they’re going to, but you know it’s not their nature to disarm.”

Trump has previously warned that Hamas would be granted “a very short period of time” to surrender its weapons or face severe consequences, yet he has also made clear that he does not intend to delay the second phase of the plan — which envisions an International Stabilization Force policing Gaza — while waiting for that process to unfold.

Earlier this week, Trump appointed Nickolay Mladenov, a former UN Middle East envoy, to head the Board of Peace.

Mladenov met Thursday in Yerushalayim with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and held talks Friday with Palestinian Authority officials in the West Bank.

According to an Arab diplomat speaking to the Times of Israel, any Israeli offensive would require backing from Washington, which continues to push for advancement of the cease-fire framework.

Netanyahu, however, is said to doubt that the Trump-led international body can successfully disarm Hamas, prompting him to instruct the IDF to ready what he described as a “contingency plan.”

{Matzav.com}

Minnesota leaders urged protesters to remain peaceful Saturday as thousands of people converged on a Minneapolis park to decry the fatal shooting of a woman by a federal immigration officer in that city and the shooting of two protesters in Portland, Oregon. The Minneapolis gathering was one of hundreds of protests planned in towns and […]

President Trump on Tuesday amplified a message from US Sen. Lindsey Graham, circulating the South Carolina Republican’s warning to Tehran that the regime’s harsh crackdown on its own citizens “will not go unchallenged.”

“This is truly not the Obama administration when it comes to standing up to the Iranian ayatollah and his religious Nazi henchmen, and standing behind the people of Iran protesting for a better life,” Graham wrote on X earlier in the day. “To the regime leadership: your brutality against the great people of Iran will not go unchallenged. Make Iran Great Again.”

Trump shared the post on his Truth Social account.

Graham’s blistering comments followed an earlier show of support for Iranian civilians issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Demonstrations inside Iran have entered their second week, with reports indicating that more than 200 protesters may have been killed amid the unrest.

“The United States supports the brave people of Iran,” Rubio wrote in a message posted early this morning.

Graham later issued another statement, saying he was proud of Rubio and President Trump for backing Iranians “who are rightly protesting against their oppression.”

Those expressions of support came after Iranian authorities declared that protesters would be treated as “enemies of God,” an accusation under Iranian law that can carry the death penalty.

Earlier this week, Trump voiced support for Iran’s population and warned the regime against using lethal force, saying, “You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, responded by accusing Trump of having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians” during remarks broadcast on Friday.

“[The terrorists] are ruining their own streets … in order to please the president of the United States because he said that he would come to their aid,” Khamenei told supporters who were chanting “Death to America!”

“He should pay attention to the state of his own country instead.”

Leaders in France, Britain, and Germany have also denounced the killing of protesters by Iranian authorities, though they have refrained from issuing threats of retaliation.

Iran has been plunged into a communications blackout after officials shut down internet service and international phone access on Thursday.

The demonstrations, which began on Dec. 28 over economic grievances, have since escalated into open calls for the overthrow of the regime, marking the most serious challenge to Iran’s leadership in years.

{Matzav.com}

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The Trump administration is said to be drawing up early-stage contingency plans for possible military action against Iran, including scenarios involving widespread air operations.

According to sources familiar with the discussions, officials are examining how to act on President Trump’s recent sharpened warnings toward Tehran, including identifying potential targets, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Among the possibilities under review is a broad airstrike campaign hitting several Iranian military installations, though officials stressed that no final agreement has been reached on any course of action.

People briefed on the matter said no American troops or hardware have been repositioned in anticipation of an attack.

The internal deliberations, they emphasized, should not be interpreted as a decision to strike, noting that such planning is a standard part of military preparedness.

Even so, Trump suggested publicly that the United States could respond forcefully if Iran continues its crackdown on protesters, writing on Truth Social over the weekend.

“Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before,” he wrote today. “The USA stands ready to help!!!”

A U.S. strike on Iranian soil would not be without precedent. In June, Trump authorized the first direct American attack inside Iran.

During that operation, U.S. forces dropped at least six “bunker buster” bombs on three locations, including the Fordow nuclear enrichment facility, a heavily fortified site buried nearly 300 feet beneath a mountain.

That bombing followed Iranian threats to deploy its nuclear capabilities against Israel during the 12-Day War and was coordinated with Israel’s own large-scale strikes on Iranian military assets in and around Tehran.

The renewed possibility of U.S. involvement comes after Trump repeatedly warned that Washington would act in defense of Iranian protesters if the regime continued violent repression.

“You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too,” Trump warned Friday.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei responded by accusing Trump of having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians,” in remarks broadcast the same day.

“[The terrorists] are ruining their own streets … in order to please the president of the United States because he said that he would come to their aid,” Khamenei said before a crowd chanting “Death to America!”

“He should pay attention to the state of his own country instead.”

Today, Iranian authorities escalated their rhetoric further, warning that protesters — as well as anyone assisting them — would be treated as “enemies of God,” an offense that carries the death penalty.

Meanwhile, reported fatalities from the unrest have climbed to at least 65 people, including 50 protesters, with growing concern among observers that the real number of deaths may exceed 200.

{Matzav.com}

Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed solidarity on Friday with what he called the “brave people of Iran,” as mass demonstrations demanding the downfall of the regime spread across Tehran and beyond, amid rising concern that fatalities have surpassed 200.

Preliminary figures compiled by the Iranian human rights organization HRANA indicate that by Jan. 9, at least 65 people had been killed, including 50 demonstrators and 15 members of the security forces, though activists warn the actual number could be far higher.

One physician told TIME that six hospitals in Tehran alone had documented at least 217 deaths among protesters, with victims dying “most by live ammunition.”

As unrest deepened, Iran’s supreme leader placed the country’s security apparatus on its highest state of readiness.

According to sources cited by The Telegraph, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei instructed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to activate so-called “missile cities,” vast underground stockpiles housing ballistic weapons.

“The IRGC’s underground missile cities – which were deliberately kept intact during the 12-day war – are all on high alert,” the insider said, warning that any U.S. involvement could ignite an “apocalyptic” conflict.

The IRGC, in a public statement issued Friday, declared that maintaining security was a “red line,” while the armed forces pledged to defend public infrastructure.

Iranian authorities characterized those taking part in the unrest as “terrorists,” accusing them of attacking military and police facilities over the past two nights, resulting in deaths among civilians and security personnel and widespread property damage.

Late Friday night, a municipal building in Karaj, west of the capital, was set ablaze.

Demonstrations were also reported in Shiraz, Qom, and Hamedan, signaling the breadth of the uprising.

The military warnings followed comments from President Trump, who voiced support for Iranian protesters and cautioned Tehran against violent suppression.

“You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too,” Trump said. “I just hope the protesters in Iran are going to be safe, because that’s a very dangerous place right now.”

Rubio echoed that message in a post early Friday morning.

“The United States supports the brave people of Iran, he posted to X.

Iran has remained largely cut off from the outside world since Thursday, after authorities imposed a nationwide internet shutdown and severed international phone connections.

France, Britain, and Germany released a joint statement condemning the killings, saying they “strongly” denounce the violence directed at protesters.

“The Iranian authorities have the responsibility to protect their own population and must allow for the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal,” the trio wrote.

“We urge the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint, to refrain from violence, and to uphold the fundamental rights of Iran’s citizens.”

In a separate message posted on X, opposition figure Reza Pahlavi escalated his rhetoric, urging demonstrators to move beyond street protests.

“Our goal is no longer merely to come into the streets; the goal is to prepare to seize city centres and hold them,” he said.

Pahlavi also appealed to “workers and employees in key sectors of the economy, especially transportation, and oil, and gas and energy,” to launch a nationwide strike.

The wave of unrest began on Dec. 28, initially fueled by economic hardship, but has since evolved into a direct challenge to the ruling system, marking the most serious threat to Iran’s leadership in years.

Authorities have detained more than 2,500 people in connection with the protests over the past two weeks.

{Matzav.com}

As U.S. seizures of Venezuela-linked oil tankers surge, concerns grow in Cuba about whether the island’s government and economy will survive. Experts warn that a sudden halt in Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba could lead to widespread social unrest and mass migration following the stunning U.S. military raid that resulted in the capture of former […]

Why This Raffle? R’ Mendy Rosenberg z”l was a devoted Hatzolah member who saved lives and helped thousands. After being diagnosed with ALS, he endured years of suffering — yet still completed the entire Shas, inspiring Klal Yisrael with his strength and faith. He left behind his wife and five children. Mendy’s Legacy Fund helps […]

A startling eyewitness account circulating on X alleges that U.S. forces deployed a previously unknown weapon during the operation that captured Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro, leaving soldiers collapsing in agony, “bleeding through the nose” and vomiting blood. The account was shared publicly by the White House press secretary.

In an interview described as astonishing, a guard said American troops eliminated hundreds of defenders without suffering a single casualty, relying on technology he said defied anything he had encountered before, either visually or audibly.

“We were on guard, but suddenly all our radar systems shut down without any explanation,” the guard said. “The next thing we saw were drones, a lot of drones, flying over our positions. We didn’t know how to react.”

Shortly afterward, several helicopters arrived — “barely eight,” according to his estimate — inserting what he believed were only about 20 U.S. soldiers into the area.

Despite their small number, he said, the Americans carried capabilities far beyond conventional weapons.

“They were technologically very advanced,” the guard recalled. “They didn’t look like anything we’ve fought against before.”

What followed, in his telling, bore no resemblance to a traditional firefight.

“We were hundreds, but we had no chance,” he said. “They were shooting with such precision and speed; it felt like each soldier was firing 300 rounds per minute.”

Then came the moment he says he cannot forget.

“At one point, they launched something; I don’t know how to describe it,” he said. “It was like a very intense sound wave. Suddenly I felt like my head was exploding from the inside.”

According to the guard, the physical consequences were swift and devastating.

“We all started bleeding from the nose,” he said. “Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move. We couldn’t even stand up after that sonic weapon — or whatever it was.”

The White House has not yet responded to questions about whether Karoline Leavitt’s decision to amplify the account — which she captioned, “Stop what you are doing and read this…” — should be interpreted as official confirmation of the claims.

Venezuela’s Interior Ministry has said roughly 100 members of the country’s security forces were killed in the Jan. 3 operation.

It remains unknown whether any of those deaths were linked to the alleged mystery weapon.

The guard said resistance collapsed completely as the small U.S. team overwhelmed vastly larger numbers.

“Those twenty men, without a single casualty, killed hundreds of us,” he claimed. “We had no way to compete with their technology, with their weapons. I swear, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

An ex-U.S. intelligence source told The Post that the military has possessed directed-energy weapons — systems that incapacitate targets using concentrated energy such as microwaves or lasers — for many years, though this could mark the first known instance of their use by the United States in combat. China, the source noted, reportedly employed a microwave weapon against Indian troops in Ladakh during a 2020 border standoff.

The source said such weapons can trigger several of the symptoms described by the guard, including “bleeding, inability to move or function, pain and burning.”

“I can’t say all of those symptoms. But yes, some,” the source said. “And we’ve had versions for decades.”

In the aftermath of the raid, the guard said the takeaway for America’s adversaries could not be more direct.

Now, he says, the message is clear: Don’t tread on Uncle Sam.

“I’m sending a warning to anyone who thinks they can fight the United States,” he said. “They have no idea what they’re capable of. After what I saw, I never want to be on the other side of that again. They’re not to be messed with.”

He added that the operation has already reverberated across Latin America, particularly after President Donald Trump recently warned that Mexico is now ‘on the list.’

“Everyone is already talking about this,” he said. “No one wants to go through what we went through. What happened here is going to change a lot of things — not just in Venezuela, but throughout the region.”

{Matzav.com}

Mortgage borrowing costs dropped notably on Friday following an announcement by President Donald Trump that he has instructed housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to step into the market and purchase $200 billion worth of mortgage bonds. The move marks an unusual federal intervention in housing finance and has already begun to shift expectations for interest rates while reviving arguments over Washington’s role in a market that has increasingly shut out prospective buyers.

Trump highlighted the decision in a social media post, tying the decline in rates directly to the directive. “Mortgage Rates are NOW 5.7%! Mortgage costs were HUGE under Biden (around 8%). That’s why almost no young families could afford a home. With my focus on Housing Affordability, and after I authorized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to invest their cash, and BUY $200 Billion Dollars in Mortgage Bonds, Mortgage Rates moved down to 5.7%. This is GREAT news for American Families, and real cost relief. We are bringing Housing Costs DOWN, and putting Americans FIRST!,” the post read.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have remained under federal conservatorship since the 2008 financial crisis, are not lenders themselves. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, their role is to purchase mortgages from banks and other lenders, either keeping them on their books or bundling them into mortgage-backed securities that are then sold to investors.

Data from Mortgage News Daily reflected the immediate impact. Its national average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage stood at 6.06% on Jan. 9, a sharp decline from 6.21% a day earlier, while the same index showed a rate of 7.15% one year ago.

Additional reporting based on Mortgage News Daily data pointed to an even steeper intraday move, briefly pulling the 30-year mortgage rate down to 5.99%, a level viewed by many buyers and refinancers as a key psychological threshold.

Large-scale government purchases of mortgage-backed securities are not without precedent. In the opening phase of the COVID-19 crisis, the Federal Reserve bought $580 billion in agency MBS during March and April 2020, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and expanded its agency MBS holdings from $1.4 trillion in March 2020 to $2.3 trillion by June 2021.

At the same time, the Fed slashed its benchmark interest rate in March 2020, setting a target range of 0 to 1/4 percent.

Trump’s directive has also renewed debate over the long-term future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, particularly whether they will continue to function as instruments of federal policy rather than being returned to private ownership.

“Trump praised his decision not to IPO the companies in his first term … This does not sound like a President who is in a rush to IPO the enterprises,” TD Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg wrote in a note, according to Reuters.

JonesTrading analyst Mike O’Rourke echoed that view, saying: “If the GSEs (Government-Sponsored Enterprises) can serve as a funding arm for Presidential policy, we shouldn’t ever expect them to be re-privatized again.”

Despite the easing in mortgage rates, broader affordability challenges remain, driven by high home prices and limited supply.

The National Association of Realtors reported that the median price of an existing home reached $409,200 in November 2025.

Interest in refinancing had already been climbing even before Trump’s announcement. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its holiday-adjusted Refinance Index was 133% higher than during the same week a year earlier.

At the same time, household balance sheets have strengthened overall. Federal Reserve figures show U.S. household wealth hit a record $181.6 trillion in September 2025, up from $175.6 trillion in July, fueled by stock market gains tied to the AI boom and continued increases in home values.

{Matzav.com}