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Iran’s president issued a sharp warning on Sunday, saying that any American military strike would draw a “harsh response,” and that targeting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would be “tantamount to a full-scale war on the Iranian nation.”

The remarks by President Masoud Pezeshkian came as Iran’s judiciary signaled it may proceed with executions of detainees arrested during recent nationwide unrest, protests that appear to have subsided following a violent government crackdown.

On Sunday, limited internet service briefly resumed in parts of Iran before being cut off again, after reports emerged that the head of Irancell, the country’s second-largest mobile phone operator, was fired for failing to enforce the shutdown.

Because of the communications blackout, the true scope of casualties during the protests remains difficult to verify. The demonstrations initially erupted over economic distress but quickly escalated into widespread demands for the overthrow of the regime.

A report published by The Sunday Times, citing Iranian medical sources, claimed that more than 16,500 people were killed and over 330,000 injured during the unrest. An Iranian official, however, said authorities had confirmed at least 5,000 deaths linked to the protests, including roughly 500 members of the security forces.

In a post on X on Sunday, Pezeshkian wrote: “An attack on the great leader of our country [Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei] is tantamount to a full-scale war with the Iranian nation.” He also accused the United States and its allies of being responsible for the hardships facing the Iranian population.

His statement followed comments made a day earlier by US President Donald Trump, who described Khamenei as a “sick man” in an interview with Politico and said, “It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran.” The remarks appeared to mark the first time Trump openly called for an end to Khamenei’s rule.

Although Trump has repeatedly warned that the United States would respond forcefully if Iran began killing protesters, he has so far refrained from launching military action. While US forces have been repositioned in the region, the president has not detailed what steps he might take.

According to Iran International, a media outlet aligned with opposition groups, Iranian state television was hacked on Sunday, briefly airing opposition material, including a speech by exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi.

The report said footage of anti-regime demonstrations was shown on several channels, apparently as a result of satellite broadcast interference.

Pahlavi was shown urging Iranians to take to the streets and calling on members of the security forces to support the protesters.

Trump has cited Tehran’s alleged decision to halt “the hanging of over 800 people” as a reason for holding back, saying: “I greatly respect the fact that they canceled.”

However, Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir said at a press conference on Sunday: “A series of actions have been identified as Mohareb, which is among the most severe Islamic punishments.”

Under Iranian law, Mohareb—an Islamic legal term meaning waging war against God—is punishable by death.

“All those who played a decisive role in these calls for violence, which led to bloodshed and significant damage to public finances, will not be spared,” Jahangir said.

Meanwhile, a relative of detained protester Erfan Soltani said Sunday that the 26-year-old is in stable physical condition and was able to meet with family members days after his scheduled execution was delayed.

A close family member living abroad told the Associated Press that relatives were informed Soltani’s execution had been set for Wednesday, but the plan was postponed when they arrived at the prison in Karaj, northwest of Tehran.

“I ask everyone to help in securing Erfan’s freedom,” said Somayeh, a relative who requested to be identified by her first name only out of fear of retaliation, in a video message.

Axios reported Sunday that US military forces were awaiting authorization from Trump to strike Iran last week, but that he ultimately decided against it following pressure from Israel and Arab partners.

The report cited four US officials, two Israeli officials, and two additional sources familiar with the matter.

According to Axios, initial US intelligence assessments concluded that the anti-regime protests were unlikely to threaten the survival of Iran’s leadership. That view shifted on January 8, when massive demonstrations erupted in Tehran and other major cities, raising new concerns about the regime’s stability.

{Matzav.com}

MATTRESSES INSIDE A BATHROOM: Footage from the daycare in Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood reveals the harsh and disturbing conditions in which the toddlers were kept.

New and deeply disturbing details are emerging from the tragedy at a private daycare in Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood, where two infants — aged 2 months and 4 months — died around midday, and an additional 53 toddlers were evacuated to local hospitals. First responders arriving at the scene described highly unusual and severe conditions. According […]

PRESIDENT HERZOG: I share in the profound sorrow of the parents of the infants and in the pain of the families following the terrible tragedy at the daycare in Jerusalem. The loss of the lives of such young children is a deep fracture beyond words, and my heart is with all the parents and children […]

DEEPLY DISTURBING: First responders arriving at the scene in Yerushalyim described finding infants sleeping inside closets, in hallways, and in bathrooms. According to their accounts, dozens of children were packed into a small apartment, sleeping on top of one another inside closets and next to a toilet in the bathroom. They further said that an […]

[Video below.] Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said Sunday that he would support possible US military action against Iran, but only after every available nonmilitary option aimed at Iran’s leadership has been fully pursued.

Speaking in an interview on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Cruz, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the United States should intensify pressure on Tehran’s ruling regime. “I think the US should be taking every step possible to end this regime,” he said.

Cruz argued that Washington still has a wide range of tools at its disposal short of military force and called for increased American support for the widespread anti-government demonstrations currently gripping Iran. “I hope and believe that America is doing everything we can to support the protesters. There are lots of steps we can and should be taking short of a bombing strike,” he said.

His remarks followed comments made a day earlier by President Donald Trump, who told Politico that Iran needs “new leadership” and sharply criticized Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling him “a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people”.

Cruz said Trump’s remarks represented a significant turning point in US policy. “In the last two days a really important step occurred where President Trump came out unequivocally and said it is time for new leadership in Iran,” he said, describing the moment as “massively important.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian responded Sunday to Trump’s statements, warning that any move against Khamenei would be treated as an act of war.

Writing on X, Pezeshkian said: “An attack on the great leader of our country is tantamount to a full-scale war with the Iranian nation.”

Relations between Washington and Tehran have been increasingly strained in recent weeks, as Iranian authorities carried out a deadly crackdown on protesters and Trump warned that Iran would face severe consequences if demonstrators were killed.

At one point on Wednesday, tensions appeared to peak, with the possibility of imminent US military action widely discussed. The situation later appeared to ease after Trump said the killings of protesters had stopped.

According to a report published over the weekend by The Washington Post, officials across the Middle East and in Washington believed late Wednesday morning that Trump was close to authorizing heavy US airstrikes against Iran. The report said Trump ultimately decided against the strikes after receiving a message through envoy Steve Witkoff that Iran had halted plans to execute 800 people.

{Matzav.com}

Spanish police said Monday that at least 39 people are confirmed dead in a high-speed rail collision the previous night in the south of the country when the tail end of a train jumped the track, causing another train speeding past in the opposite direction to derail. The impact tossed the second train’s lead carriages off the […]

Discussions are underway inside President Donald Trump’s orbit about the United States potentially offering asylum to Jewish people from the United Kingdom. The talks were disclosed by Robert Garson, Trump’s personal lawyer, who told the Telegraph that he has raised the possibility with officials at the U.S. State Department. Garson said the conversations focus on […]

A senior spokesman for the Islamic Jihad terror organization said the group is prepared to work with a committee overseeing civilian affairs in the Gaza Strip, while at the same time rejecting the political structure surrounding that body and opposing any framework linked to President Donald Trump.

In an interview with the newspaper Al Araby Al Jadeed, Muhammad al Khaj Musa said Islamic Jihad is willing to cooperate with the Gaza administration committee led by Ali Shaath “in order to ease the suffering of the residents of the Strip.”

Musa stressed, however, that the organization has serious objections to both the makeup of the committee and the political vision behind it, arguing that it operates under American backing and influence.

He said Islamic Jihad rejects the “Board of Peace” initiative established by Donald Trump, declaring that the group opposes any form of “international sponsorship over the Palestinian people,” which he claimed is designed to dismantle armed factions and strip them of their weapons.

Turning to the issue of hostages, Musa accused Israel of preventing progress, asserting that the body of Ran Gvili—the final hostage held by the organization—is trapped in a tunnel that was filled with large quantities of concrete by the IDF.

According to Musa, recovering the remains “requires special engineering equipment,” but he alleged that Israel “is placing obstacles and conditions,” including tying the return of the body to advancements in a future agreement.

Under Trump’s Gaza plan, Hamas—which controls the Gaza Strip—was supposed to return all hostages held in Gaza during the first phase. Nevertheless, Gvili’s body remains in terrorist custody, even as Hamas claims it does not know its location.

Israel, for its part, has passed along what it says is vital information regarding the burial site of Gvili, but Hamas has declined to act on it.

{Matzav.com}

Newly released Argentine government files are offering a blunt, sometimes embarrassing look at how one of the world’s most notorious safe harbors for Nazi fugitives struggled — and often failed — to track down the war criminals who slipped through its borders after World War II. The documents, made public last year under President Javier […]

The Trump administration is examining whether the United States should offer asylum to Jews from the United Kingdom as concerns mount over rising antisemitism, according to remarks given to The Telegraph by a senior figure close to President Donald Trump.

Robert Garson, the president’s personal attorney and a former British barrister originally from Manchester, said he has been in contact with the US State Department to discuss the possibility of granting refuge to British Jews who feel increasingly threatened in the UK.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Garson said Britain is “no longer a safe place for Jews,” pointing to an Islamist attack on a synagogue in Manchester and what he described as a sharp increase in antisemitism following the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel. Those events, he said, convinced him that American protection should be extended to British Jews seeking to leave.

Garson said he believes there is “no future” for Jews in the UK and placed responsibility on Prime Minister Keir Starmer, accusing him of failing to confront antisemitism and allowing it to spread.

He noted that after being appointed last May by President Trump to the US Holocaust Memorial Council—following the removal of appointees from the Biden era—he raised the asylum proposal with Trump’s antisemitism envoy, Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun.

At 49, Garson has emerged as a prominent figure within Trump’s inner circle. He is currently representing the president in a $50 million lawsuit against journalist Bob Woodward and also serves as legal counsel to Donald Trump Jr. in connection with Winning Team Publishing, which has released books by conservative writers, the president himself, and Charlie Kirk, the assassinated right-wing activist.

Garson, who relocated to the United States in 2008, restated his concerns in blunt terms: “The UK is no longer a safe place for Jews. I have spoken to the State Department as to whether the president should be offering British Jews asylum in the US. It is certainly not an unattractive proposition. It is a highly educated community… It is a populous that speaks English natively, that is educated and doesn’t have a high proportion of criminals. There were conversations.”

He said shifting demographics and growing hostility toward Jews have led him to conclude that “there is a future for Jews in the United Kingdom” no longer. “For me, that is particularly sad,” he added.

Garson also lashed out at the Crown Prosecution Service, accusing it of failing to bring charges against protesters “on the streets of Britain who had glorified in the rape or death of Jews” in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks. He said there is “a lack of political will” to apply the Public Order Act to anti-Israel demonstrations.

In a further attack on the British government, Garson said: “Keir Starmer has turned a total blind eye to antisemitism.” He continued, “The Prime Minister has allowed rampant antisemitism to become commonplace in society and has allowed it to come from those who really don’t have Britain’s best interests at heart.”

Garson warned that if extremist Islamism is not confronted, parts of the country could eventually be governed by Sharia law. “Mark my words, they are coming for the Jews and then they are coming for your pubs. You are going to have sharia-compliant areas very, very soon,” he said.

{Matzav.com}

Dozens of children were evacuated after a baby lost consciousness at a private daycare on HaMem Gimmel Street in the Romema neighborhood of Jerusalem early Monday afternoon. According to initial reports, MDA and United Hatzalah teams that were called to the scene provided medical treatment to approximately 12 babies with varying degrees of injury. Two […]

Government ministers met on Sunday and discussed applying economic sanctions to draft evaders who failed to report for military service—measures that would be implemented uniformly across all sectors. The meeting was convened after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara claimed last week that the government was violating a Supreme Court order by failing to carry out enforcement […]

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China’s economy expanded at a 5% annual pace in 2025, buoyed by strong exports despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. However, growth slowed to a 4.5% rate in the last quarter of the year, the government said Monday. That was the slowest quarterly growth since late 2022 when China was beginning to loosen stringent COVID-19 […]

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro writes in a newly released memoir that while being screened as a possible vice-presidential pick for Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign, he was confronted with a question asking whether he had ever “been a double agent for Israel.”

Portions of Shapiro’s book, Where We Keep the Light, were published in excerpts carried by The New York Times and The Atlantic.

In the book, Shapiro describes reacting with shock and offense to the question, recalling his immediate disbelief (“Was she kidding?”). He also recounts feeling deeply uncomfortable throughout the vetting process, which included repeated inquiries into his views on Israel — an area where his public record has generally been supportive.

Shapiro writes that being asked such a question “said a lot about some of the people around [Harris],” suggesting it reflected troubling assumptions within the circle conducting the interviews.

“I wondered whether these questions were being posed to just me — the only Jewish guy in the running — or if everyone who had not held a federal office was being grilled about Israel in the same way,” he says.

Reflecting on the tone of the interviews, Shapiro notes that while the meetings were outwardly formal, they were emotionally taxing. “These sessions were completely professional and businesslike,” Shapiro says. “But I just had a knot in my stomach through all of it.”

Harris ultimately selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, and the Democratic ticket went on to lose the general election to Donald Trump.

{Matzav.com}

Chinese police detained those in charge of a steel factory in the Inner Mongolia region after an explosion on Sunday killed two people and left 84 others hospitalized. Eight other people remain unaccounted for. A pressurized storage tank designed to hold steam and high-temperature water exploded in the factory, Baotou city officials said Monday. The […]

HEARTBREAKING: A precious father was taken suddenly, leaving behind a shattered home. A broken widow is now struggling to raise seven orphaned children alone.

As the annual yahrtzeit of Rav Dovid of Lelov zt”l approaches, thousands of Lelover chassidim are once again preparing to travel to Poland for the traditional pilgrimage to his kever. The gathering, held each year on 7 Shevat in the town of Lelov, is customarily led by the Lelover Rebbe, who is joined by large delegations of followers from Eretz Yisroel and abroad.

This year, however, an unusual and restrictive directive has been issued, leading to disappointment among many bochurim who had hoped to participate in the journey and benefit from the long-standing segulah associated with the yahrtzeit.

The Rebbe has instructed that bochurim and young avreichim who belong to age cohorts required to report for military service — and who fear possible arrest — must refrain from leaving the country and should not take part in the trip under any circumstances.

In recent years, the Lelover yahrtzeit has drawn not only chassidim but also many individuals seeking yeshuos, particularly bochurim who are delayed in finding a shidduch. Among Lelover chassidim, a well-known segulah involves unmarried bochurim dancing on a table during the yahrtzeit seudah in front of the assembled chassidim, an act seen as removing embarrassment and opening the gates to a shidduch. Numerous accounts have circulated in recent years of older singles who participated in the yahrtzeit and went on to get married within the following year.

This year’s directive follows a significant tightening of enforcement by military police, who have intensified efforts to compel attendance and arrest those who have not regularized their status. After the matter was brought before the Rebbe, a clear ruling was issued: Any bochur or avreich with even a remote concern of arrest — whether while departing Israel or upon return — is not to attempt traveling abroad for the yahrtzeit.

While the instruction is being widely accepted as a matter of pikuach nefesh and responsible leadership, it has nevertheless caused deep disappointment among singles who had pinned their hopes on participating in the pilgrimage and the associated segulah this year.

{Matzav.com}