The latest round of U.S.–Ukraine discussions stretched across four hours in Florida, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the session as “very productive,” even as he stressed that the path to ending Russia’s assault on Ukraine still requires considerable effort.
Rubio revealed that Steve Witkoff—President Donald Trump’s envoy for the negotiations—will outline the latest developments directly to Vladimir Putin during a trip to Moscow this week. He emphasized to reporters that the talks involve complicated dynamics: “There are a lot of moving parts, and obviously there’s another party involved here that will have to be a part of the equation, and that will continue later this week, when Mr. Witkoff travels to Moscow, although we’ve also been in touch in varying degrees with the Russian side, but we have a pretty good understanding of their views as well.” Rubio then cautioned, “Much work remains.”
According to Rubio, the discussions are not only focused on achieving a cessation of hostilities but also on shaping a lasting economic recovery for Ukraine. He characterized the American outlook as firmly grounded yet hopeful, noting that peace must come with a viable long-term future. “It’s not just about the terms that ends fighting,” he added. “It’s about also the terms that set up Ukraine for long-term prosperity. I think we build on that today, but there’s more work to be done.”
Representing the United States at this delicate moment were Rubio, Witkoff, and Jared Kushner. Their meeting took place as Ukraine simultaneously contends with Russian pressure on the battlefield and internal turmoil fueled by a corruption scandal. Diplomats on both sides have been targeting revisions to a draft plan developed in previous U.S.–Russia exchanges, a proposal that critics have argued leaned too far toward Moscow.
As the Sunday talks opened at the Shell Bay Club—Witkoff’s upscale development in Hallandale Beach—Rubio sought to reassure Kyiv: “The end goal is, obviously, not just the end of the war,” Rubio said. “But it’s also about securing an end to the war that leaves Ukraine sovereign and independent and with an opportunity at real prosperity.” He reminded the participants that “This is not just about peace deals.”
Ukraine’s national security chief, Rustem Umerov, responded by expressing appreciation for American support—remarks clearly intended for Trump, who has sometimes said Ukraine has not shown enough gratitude. “U.S. is hearing us,” Umerov said. “U.S. is supporting us. U.S. is working beside us.” He repeated Ukraine’s thanks in brief comments to reporters afterward, though he offered no specifics regarding what was accomplished during the meeting. “Our objective is a prosperous, strong Ukraine,” Umerov said. “We discussed all the important matters that are important for Ukraine, for Ukrainian people, and U.S. was super supportive.”
Rubio added that U.S. goals extend beyond halting the war. “We also want to help Ukraine be safe forever, so never again will they face another invasion. And equally importantly, we want them to enter an age of true prosperity,” he said, describing a future in which Ukraine is rebuilt stronger than before.
The shake-up in Kyiv’s negotiating team added another layer to the talks. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the resignation of his powerful chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, whose home was searched by anti-corruption authorities investigating a sprawling kickback scheme that siphoned $100 million from the energy sector. Yermak had been Ukraine’s lead negotiator, meeting with Rubio in Geneva just a week earlier.
Ukraine’s delegation in Florida included top military commander Andrii Hnatov and presidential adviser Oleksandr Bevz, who joined Umerov in attempting to advance a reworked peace proposal. The initial framework—which Trump has more recently downplayed as merely a “concept” or “map” in need of being “fine-tuned”—had envisioned restricting Ukraine’s military, barring NATO entry, and mandating elections within 100 days. It also originally called for surrendering the Donbas region entirely to Russia, something Ukraine has rejected. Negotiators say changes have been made, but details remain scarce.
Trump said Tuesday that Witkoff—and possibly Kushner as well—would travel to Moscow in the coming days for another round of talks with Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Russian state TV that Putin will host Witkoff before departing for India on Thursday. Witkoff and Kushner, both seasoned dealmakers from the real estate world, previously helped craft a 20-point proposal that produced a ceasefire in Gaza.
Zelenskyy posted on X that his delegation intended to “swiftly and substantively work out the steps needed to end the war.” In his Saturday night address, he praised the American team, saying the U.S. side was “demonstrating a constructive approach.” He added: “In the coming days it is feasible to flesh out the steps to determine how to bring the war to a dignified end.”
Events on the ground underscored the urgency. Missile and drone strikes around Kyiv on Saturday killed at least three people and wounded many more, according to Ukrainian officials. Additional overnight attacks into Sunday left one dead and 19 injured—including children—after a drone slammed into a nine-story apartment building in Vyshhorod. Zelenskyy later reported on Telegram that Russia launched 122 strike drones and ballistic missiles. “Such attacks occur daily. This week alone, Russians have used nearly 1,400 strike drones, 1,100 guided aerial bombs and 66 missiles against our people. That is why we must strengthen Ukraine’s resilience every day. Missiles and air defense systems are necessary, and we must also actively work with our partners for peace,” Zelenskyy said. “We need real, reliable solutions that will help end the war,” he added.
Another flashpoint emerged after Ukraine claimed responsibility for striking a major oil terminal at Novorossiysk, operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. Kazakhstan criticized the attack, warning Kyiv that such actions jeopardize bilateral relations. “We view what has occurred as an action harming the bilateral relations of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Ukraine, and we expect the Ukrainian side to take effective measures to prevent similar incidents in the future,” Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry said.
The Florida meeting ended without public disclosure of specific breakthroughs, but both sides suggested the pieces are beginning to shift—just as the U.S. envoy prepares to sit down with Putin in Moscow.
{Matzav.com}
A new NBC News survey reveals a sharp deterioration in the public’s confidence in the value of a bachelor’s degree, with a solid majority now saying the investment simply doesn’t add up. The latest findings show that more than 6 in 10 registered voters believe a four-year college education is no longer worth what students are expected to pay.
Only 33% of respondents still view a degree as a sound investment — a staggering 20-point collapse since June 2013. In that same time span, the proportion who say a college degree has lost its value has soared to 63%, a rise of 23 points over twelve years.
The downward trend spans nearly every demographic category, according to the poll, signaling a broad rethinking of the role — and price — of higher education. What was once a bipartisan belief has fractured dramatically.
Republican voters, once more favorable toward college, have seen the most dramatic reversal. Ten years ago, 55% of Republicans said a four-year degree was worthwhile, compared to 38% who said it wasn’t. Today, that sentiment has flipped entirely: only 22% see the degree as worthwhile, while 74% now say it is not.
Across the full sample, most respondents agreed with the statement that college is “not worth the cost because people often graduate without specific job skills and with a large amount of debt to pay off,” as the survey phrased it.
One of the clearest drivers of this shift is the relentless rise in tuition. When adjusted for inflation, College Board data shows that in-state tuition at public universities has doubled since 1995, and private college tuition has climbed 75% in that same period, NBC News reported.
Economist Preston Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute attributed the skepticism to outcomes that simply don’t justify the cost for many students. “Some people drop out, or sometimes people end up with a degree that is not worth a whole lot in the labor market, and sometimes people pay way too much for a degree relative to the value of what that credential is,” he told NBC News. He added, “These cases have created enough exceptions to the rule that a bachelor’s degree always pays off, so that people are now more skeptical.”
NBC News polled 1,000 registered voters between Oct. 24 and 28. The margin of error is +/– 3.1 percentage points.
{Matzav.com}
Naftali Bennett declared that he would back a pardon for Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, provided it comes as part of a deal removing Netanyahu from the political arena. His announcement appeared on X, where he cast Israel’s current climate as dangerously unstable.
Bennett argued that the country has been pushed to the edge by deep internal fractures. “In recent years, the State of Israel has been led into chaos and to the brink of a civil war that threatens the very existence of the state,” he writes on X. He framed Netanyahu stepping aside as the key to national reset, insisting that Israelis must end the ongoing legal and political battles.
He laid out his proposal plainly. “In order to rescue Israel from the chaos, I will support a binding arrangement that includes a respectful retirement from political life alongside the end of the trial,” he says. “That way, we can let it go, unite, and rebuild the state together.” Bennett portrayed such an agreement as both a practical and moral way to move the country forward.
The context behind Bennett’s stance is rooted in recent political history. He and Yair Lapid headed the short-lived coalition that removed Netanyahu from office for a year and a half beginning in 2021, only for Netanyahu to return after his bloc prevailed in the 2022 vote. Surveys since then have routinely suggested that a new slate led by Bennett could outperform Netanyahu in the next contest, which must take place by next October.
{Matzav.com}
In a wide-ranging conversation with Channel 12, attorney Micha Fettman — who once served on Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s defense team — laid out why President Isaac Herzog is legally barred from granting Netanyahu a pardon unless the prime minister does something he has repeatedly refused to do: admit guilt. As Fettman put it plainly, “A pardon is given to an offender – that’s what the law stipulates.”
Fettman pointed to the 1984 Bus 300 case as the closest historical comparison, noting that it involved one of the only pre-trial pardons in Israeli legal history. But even that exceptional episode, he stressed, required full acknowledgment of responsibility. The Shin Bet agents involved had conceded what they had done before receiving clemency from then-president Chaim Herzog.
That affair centered on two Palestinian terrorists who attempted to hijack an intercity bus carrying dozens of Israelis. After the hijacking was foiled, agents captured the terrorists alive, executed them in custody, and subsequently lied about the incident. When the truth emerged, it triggered a national scandal, senior resignations, and a criminal investigation — ultimately ending with presidential pardons before the trial even began.
Fettman underscored that even in that extraordinary situation, the High Court was emphatic that admitting guilt was a non-negotiable condition. He added that “there’s no way on earth” the attorney general or state prosecution would advise President Herzog to pardon Netanyahu without the same requirement.
He noted that on the rare occasions when presidents issued pardons contrary to the Justice Ministry’s position, it was always for severely ill private citizens — never for a sitting prime minister facing corruption charges.
His remarks surfaced just as Netanyahu submitted a massive 111-page pardon request to the president, accompanied by a personal letter arguing that clemency would enable him to focus exclusively on leading Israel “in these critical times” and “would help mend rifts between different sectors of the public.” Netanyahu did not acknowledge guilt, offer remorse, or retreat from his longstanding claim that the prosecution against him is fundamentally flawed.
Fettman, who stepped down from Netanyahu’s legal defense team five years ago, suggested that by framing the request as one made “for the good of the country,” Netanyahu may have inadvertently opened the door for Herzog to conclude that the national interest could require conditions — including the possibility of Netanyahu stepping down from public life.
Earlier this month, Netanyahu publicly reiterated that he would not consider seeking a pardon if it required admitting guilt.
Netanyahu currently faces charges across three separate cases, including one count of bribery and three counts each of fraud and breach of trust. His trial, which began in 2020, remains far from conclusion, and he continues to adamantly deny every allegation against him.
{Matzav.com}
A bruising online fight erupted on X over the past 24 hours after Elizabeth Tsurkov sharply condemned Channel 12’s description of an incident in the southern Gaza Strip. Her post triggered an immediate and fiery response from political commentator Amit Segal, setting off a back-and-forth that quickly drew widespread attention.
The televised report at the center of the blowup stated: “The Air Force this morning eliminated two suspects in the southern Gaza Strip who crossed the yellow line, conducted suspicious activities on the ground, and approached troops.” Within minutes of its broadcast, Arab outlets asserted that the individuals killed were actually children, reported to be 10 and 12 years old.
Tsurkov — who endured abduction by the Kta’ib Hezbollah terror group in Baghdad in March 2023 and was freed in September 2025 — shared an English rendering of the Channel 12 phrasing and commented: “How Israeli Ch 12 reported on the killing of 10 and 12-year-old boys in Khan Younis today. Ch 12 is the most watched channel in Israel and represents the mainstream.”
Segal blasted her critique with a biting attack that immediately escalated the dispute. He wrote: “What an extraordinary country Israel is, that it makes an effort to redeem from captivity even its greatest slanderers – captivity that has nothing to do with it and did not happen through any fault of its own. Even scum like Tsurkov don’t deserve to rot in terrorist captivity.”
Tsurkov insisted that her post was straightforward and that Segal’s outrage was misplaced. She fired back: “If you consider an English translation of a Channel 12 headline as ‘slandering’ the country, maybe it’s worth changing the coverage so it fits journalistic standards. And the State of Israel indeed worked for my release, and I thank those involved that they didn’t listen to your public calls while I was still in captivity, not to.”
Segal responded with renewed force, doubling down on his accusation that she routinely maligns the state. He declared: “You are an obsessive person, and you hate our country. Instead of sitting silently and introspecting on the high price your stupid adventures cost the country over the years, you still dare to spit into the well with a handful of English tweets.”
Tsurkov rejected the characterization and defended her right to critique government policy without being labeled an enemy of the state. She replied: “I don’t hate the country. I criticize its policies in many areas and express my appreciation for those in others. If you want to live under a rule where it’s forbidden to express criticism, move to Gaza.”
Segal then issued his final volley, accusing her of employing rhetoric that echoes hostile foreign narratives. His closing shot read: “You don’t hate the country, you’re just in a years-long ‘Tourette’s episode’ of slandering the country using the cheapest means of enemy propaganda, including the systematic belittling of October 7th, and the systematic magnification of the results of IDF activity. I will not go to Gaza because, unlike you, I do not tend to place responsibility for my actions on the state. But you are welcome to do so.”
{Matzav.com}
A planned launch of reconstruction work in Rafah has been indefinitely pushed off after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich refused to sign off on the necessary budget, according to a report from i24NEWS that quoted a security official.
The rebuilding effort was originally slated to get underway on Sunday, November 30. With the finance minister declining approval, however, officials have now frozen the initiative until a new decision is reached. Those familiar with Smotrich’s position confirmed the move and sharply articulated his reasoning, stating, “Israeli citizens will not pay out of pocket for the reconstruction of Gaza. There is a limit to every trick.”
While budgetary disagreement is one explanation for the holdup, another security source offered a completely different assessment. According to that official, work cannot begin because armed operatives are still hiding in Rafah, creating conditions too dangerous for crews to enter the area.
In the meantime, even the initial step of clearing out the rubble has yet to begin.
The reconstruction phase is intended to roll out only during the second stage of the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas. Yet progress toward that stage is stalled, as two deceased hostages are still being held by the terror groups in Gaza—an unresolved issue that continues to prolong the conclusion of the ceasefire’s first phase.
{Matzav.com}
A routine family outing turned extraordinary after a young gamer unexpectedly uncovered a concealed stockpile of weapons not far from the Dimona nuclear facility. The revelation has prompted a full-scale investigation by Israeli security authorities.
The discovery occurred when a teenager, absorbed in completing a mission on the Pokémon Go app, wandered up a cliffside in the Mamshit National Park area. While following the game’s prompts, the teen came across a stash that stunned both his family and, later, law enforcement.
According to i24NEWS, the cache held a troubling assortment of military-grade equipment: three M16 rifles outfitted and ready for action, along with multiple magazines for both rifles and handguns, as well as a military vest and coat. The manner in which the weapons were concealed suggested they were positioned for quick access and immediate operational deployment—despite being only a few hundred meters from one of Israel’s most sensitive sites.
Initial assessments by police point toward criminal involvement. Investigators believe the arsenal was stolen from an IDF base and was likely connected to a Bedouin crime network, though the inquiry remains ongoing.
The moment the teen realized what he had found, his family contacted security forces without delay. Responding units secured the area, collected the weapons, and began a deeper probe into who placed them there—and for what purpose.
{Matzav.com}
