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Joint British-U.S. airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed at least 16 people and wounded 42 others, the rebels said Friday, the highest publicly acknowledged death toll from the multiple rounds of strikes carried out over the rebels’ attacks on shipping. Three U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe a then-ongoing attack, described the strikes Thursday as hitting a wide range of underground facilities, missile launchers, command and control sites, a Houthi vessel and other facilities. They called it a response to a recent surge in attacks by the Iran-backed militia group on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the Israel-Hamas war. The U.S. F/A-18 fighter jets involved in the strikes took off from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, officials said. Other U.S. warships in the region also participated. But the Houthis focused Friday morning on a strike they said struck a building housing Hodeida Radio and civilian homes in the port city on the Red Sea. Their Al Masirah satellite news channel aired images of one bloodied man being carried down stairs and others in the hospital, receiving aid. It said all the dead and nearly all the wounded from the strikes came from there. The Houthis described all those killed and hurt in Hodeida as civilians, something The Associated Press couldn’t immediately confirm. The rebel force that’s held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014 includes fighters who often aren’t in uniform. Other strikes hit outside of Sanaa near its airport, and communication equipment in Taiz, the broadcaster said. Little other information was released on those sites — likely signaling that Houthi military sites had been struck. One person was wounded in Sanaa. “We confirm this brutal aggression against Yemen as punishment for its position in support of Gaza, in support of Israel to continue its crimes of genocide against the wounded, besieged and steadfast Gaza Strip,” Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam posted on X. Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a Houthi official, threatened both the U.S. and U.K. with further retaliation. “We will meet escalation with escalation,” he wrote on X. Yemen’s military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, gave the casualty figures, then alleged without offering any evidence that the rebels targeted the Eisenhower in response with drones and ballistic missiles. Another U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said that the aircraft carrier was fine. In the United Kingdom, the country’s Defense Ministry said that Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s conducted strikes on both Hodeida and further south in Ghulayfiqah. It described its targets as “buildings identified as housing drone ground control facilities and providing storage for very long-range drones, as well as surface-to-air weapons.” “The strikes were taken in self-defense in the face of an ongoing threat that the Houthis pose,” U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said. “There’s an ongoing threat that the Houthis pose.” The U.S. and the U.K. have launched strikes against the Houthis since January, with the U.S. regularly carrying out its own in the time since as well. Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the Houthis’ secretive supreme leader, offered an overall death toll for the strikes up to that point as 40 people killed and 35 others wounded. He didn’t offer a breakdown between civilian and combatant casualties at the time. The Houthis […]

President Joe Biden laid out the terms of a new Israeli ceasefire-for-hostages proposal on Friday that includes a permanent end to hostilities and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.

Speaking in the State Dining Room at the White House, Biden said Israel proposed a three-phase ceasefire deal to Hamas through Egyptian, Qatari and U.S. mediators.

“For the past several months, my negotiators, of the foreign policy, intelligence community and the like, have been relentlessly focused, not just on a ceasefire that would inevitably be fragile and temporary, but on a durable end of the war,” Biden said. “That’s been the focus—a durable end to this war.”

At a background briefing after the speech, a senior U.S. administration official told reporters that the Israeli proposal was “nearly identical to Hamas’s own proposals.”

“If that’s what Hamas wants, they can take the deal,” the official said. “Alternatively, if its leaders choose to live deep underground, holding innocent hostages, including women, the war goes on and the people of Gaza suffer. That would be their choice.”

Biden described the deal as “the Israeli proposal,” although the senior U.S. official said that “this proposal has been accepted by Israel.”

JNS sought clarity on the apparent discrepancy between the White House and the National Security Council. “This is ultimately an Israeli proposal that was put together in coordination with the U.S., Egypt and Qataris,” a National Security Council spokeswoman told JNS.

The U.S. president said he wants a future “without Hamas in power” but described a series of steps that did not include the elimination of the terror group or its surrender.

“The first phase would last for six weeks,” Biden said. “Here’s what it would include: a full and complete ceasefire. The withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza. Release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.”

That phase, which would also include the return of some of the remains of dead hostages and the continued daily delivery of 600 trucks of aid to the Palestinians, would lead to an indefinite period of negotiations between Israel and Hamas to end the war, he said.

“During the six weeks of phase one, Israel and Hamas would negotiate the necessary arrangements to get to phase two, which is a permanent end to hostilities,” the president added. “The proposal says if the negotiations take longer than six weeks from phase one, the ceasefire will still continue as long as negotiations continue.”

The United States, Egypt and Qatar “would work to ensure negotiations keep going until all the agreements are reached and phase two is able to begin,” Biden added.

In the second phase, “Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza” and release additional Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of all remaining living hostages, the president said. Quoting the text of the proposal, he said that at that point, the ceasefire would become “the cessation of hostilities permanently.”

The third phase would include the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of any remaining dead hostages.

During the third phase, Biden said that the United States, Arab nations, the international community, along with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, would ensure that Hamas is not allowed to rearm.

The second and third phases are open-ended, allowing for additional negotiation, but the senior U.S. official told reporters that each is envisioned to last about 42 days.

According to Biden, Qatar transmitted the Israeli proposal to Hamas “today,” although the U.S. president later referred to the initiative as being made “yesterday.” (“It was transmitted yesterday,” the National Security Council spokeswoman told JNS on Friday.)

Qatar hosts many of Hamas’s leaders in its capital city of Doha. Still, U.S. officials have said that Hamas’s ultimate decision-maker regarding a ceasefire is Yahya Sinwar—the leader of the U.S.-designated foreign terror group—in Gaza and one of the architects of the Oct. 7 attacks.

Biden said that the Israeli public should accept the deal because Israel has already achieved its war aims against Hamas.

“The people of Israel should know they can make this offer without any further risk to our own security because they’ve devastated Hamas forces over the past eight months,” the president said. “At this point, Hamas no longer is capable of carrying out another Oct. 7.”

The senior U.S. official repeated that point and said Israel’s military operations since Oct. 7 made the deal possible.

“I think the reason the Israelis are able to make this offer is because of some of the success they’ve had in degrading Hamas’s military capacity,” the senior official said. “I don’t think this offer would have been possible three months ago.”

Hamas’s leaders “are dead or in deep hiding,” the senior official added.

Biden did not name Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu or any other Israeli politicians but said that Israeli leaders should stand by the deal despite some members of the Israeli cabinet opposing a withdrawal from Gaza.

“I know there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan and will call for the war to continue indefinitely. Some are even in the government coalition,” Biden said. “They’ve made it clear they want to occupy Gaza. They want to keep fighting for years, and the hostages are not a priority to them. Well, I’ve urged the leadership of Israel to stand behind this deal despite whatever pressure comes.”

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir are among the Israeli politicians who have called for some form of a permanent Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip post-Oct. 7.

Biden also addressed the Israeli people and said he was speaking as someone who has had “a lifelong commitment to Israel.”

“I ask you to take a step back and think what will happen if this moment is lost,” Biden said. “Indefinite war in pursuit of an unidentified notion of total victory will only bog down Israel in Gaza, draining the economic, military and human resources, and furthering Israel’s isolation in the world.”

“That will not bring hostages home,” he said. “That will not bring an enduring defeat of Hamas. That will not bring Israel lasting security.”

‘I need your help,’ says the president

Biden claimed that the deal could also lead to calm on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, and eventually, to a normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

After the speech, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office issued a statement confirming that Netanyahu approved the proposal. “The government of Israel is united in its desire to return the hostages as soon as possible and is working to achieve this goal,” the office stated.

“The prime minister authorized the negotiating team to present a proposal to that end, which would also enable Israel to continue the war until all its objectives are achieved, including the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities,” Netanyahu’s office added. “The actual proposal put forward by Israel, including the conditional transition from one phase to the next, allows Israel to uphold these principles.”

The war in Gaza has created a significant rift within the Democratic party and prompted substantial street protests against Biden and other administration officials.

Biden campaign re-election events are now routinely disrupted by anti-Israel protesters with chants like “Genocide Joe has got to go,” and Arab-American and left-wing anti-Israel voters could play a key role in swing states like Michigan in the November presidential election.

Biden concluded the speech with a call to end the war.

“I need your help,” Biden said. “Everyone who wants peace now must raise their voices. Let the leaders know they should take this deal. Work to make it real, make it lasting and forge a better future out of the tragic terror attack and war.”

“It’s time for this war to end,” he added. “For the day after to begin.” JNS

A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation Friday targeting Iranian officials involved in the prosecution and death sentence of a rapper who came to fame for his lyrics about the 2022 death of an Iranian woman and his criticism of the Islamic Republic. The proposal would impose sanctions on the judges, prosecutors and investigators of Iran’s Revolutionary Courts in response to Tehran’s continuing crackdown against dissenters — including rapper Toomaj Salehi — after years of mass protests in the country. It would also codify into law that the U.S. views any judgments issued by Iran’s courts against political prisoners as violations of human rights. “Toomaj Salehi has used his platform to give a voice to the voiceless and bravely speak out against the Iran regime’s torture, abuse, and crackdown against the free will of the Iranian people,” Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., one of the bill’s lead sponsors, said in a statement to The Associated Press. “Unfortunately, he is just the latest victim of the regime’s cruelty.” She added that the bill — titled the TOOMAJ Act — will allow the U.S. “to stand side by side with Toomaj and other peaceful protesters demanding basic human rights and take targeted action against the Iran regime.” It marks the latest congressional action against the Islamic Republic in recent months as Democratic and Republican lawmakers have united in decrying the country’s human rights record as well as its role in the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, including the Israel-Hamas war. Leading the legislative effort with Kim are Reps. David Trone, D-Md., Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif. News of the death sentence ordered against 33-year-old Salehi by a Revolutionary Court in Isfahan, a central Iranian city, came down in late April. A lawyer for the rapper confirmed the sentence to The Associated Press as Iranian officials have yet to publicly announce it. Revolutionary Courts in Iran often involve closed-door hearings, secret evidence and few rights for those on trial. Salehi’s lawyer, Amir Raisian, told AP last month that he planned to file an appeal in his client’s case. The sentencing comes months after the artist was released from prison in mid-November after spending more than a year in custody. He faces charges, including “spreading corruption on the Earth” that his supporters say stem from the hip-hop artist’s music and participation in the protests that broke out in Iran over the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police after being detained for wearing her hijab too loosely. United Nations investigators have said that Iran was responsible for Amini’s death and that it violently put down largely peaceful protests in a monthslong security crackdown that killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained. Salehi was arrested again a few weeks after his release following a video message that he posted about being tortured during his time in prison. State media at the time released a video showing him blindfolded and apologizing for his words. He had put out several songs and music videos where he rapped about Amini, singing in one video, “Someone’s crime was dancing with her hair in the wind.” His music also veered into heavy criticism of the Islamic regime, going as far as predicting the downfall of Iran’s theocracy. “Your […]

The United Kingdom, Canada, and other nations could potentially deny entry to former President Donald Trump if his felony conviction stands. Nearly 40 nations, including Canada and the UK, have strict policies regarding individuals with criminal records. Unless granted special accommodation, Trump would be subject to these standards. Canada’s tourist hub states that US citizens or permanent residents with felony convictions may be deemed inadmissible for immigration or even visiting. UK law allows felons to visit Ireland and Scotland with restrictions, but Britain can bar access. Other nations like Israel and Australia have laws regarding felons visiting, which may be interpreted differently if Trump wins the election. Trump will be appealing, but if he wins the presidency before a potential overturn, countries with strict criminal record policies may need to make exceptions for official visits. The conviction’s impact on Trump’s presidential campaign is uncertain, but establishment Republican Karl Rove believes it could cost Trump key swing voters in crucial states. “If he is found guilty, let’s not underestimate that there is a problem,” Rove said. “Think about this. Those numbers, like 11% less likely to vote for him, think about Michigan where they’re, in the RealClearPolitics average, Donald Trump is up by one half of 1% — or Pennsylvania, where he’s up by 2%, or Wisconsin, where he’s up by 3/10 of 1%,” Rove continued. “So in a close race, like we’re likely to have, having 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11% of the electorate less likely to vote for you is a problem.” Despite this, Trump’s base remains loyal, raising $53 million in campaign donations within 24 hours of the conviction. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich both announced on Motzei Shabbos that that would not agree to US President Joe Biden’s proposal and threatened to leave the government if his plan was accepted.

Smotrich said in a post on X, “I just spoke with the prime minister and made it clear that I will not be part of a government that agrees to the proposed outline and ends the war without destroying Hamas and bringing back all the hostages.”

He continued saying, “We will not agree to stop the war before Hamas is destroyed. We will not accept undermining the achievements of the war so far by withdrawing the IDF and allowing Gazans to return to the northern part of the [Gaza] Strip. We will not permit the wholesale release of terrorists who might return to murder Jews.”

Smotrich demanded “the continuation of the fight until Hamas is destroyed and all hostages are returned.”

“We seek the creation of a completely different security reality in Gaza and Lebanon, the return of all residents to their homes in the North and South, and massive investment in the accelerated development of these areas,” he emphasized.

Ben-Gvir said after Shabbos that “the deal, as its details were announced today, means the end of the war and the abandonment of the goal to destroy Hamas. This is a reckless deal, which constitutes a victory for terrorism and a security threat to the State of Israel.”

He continued saying that “agreeing to such a deal is not an absolute victory, but an absolute defeat.”

“We will not allow the war to end without the complete eradication of Hamas. If the prime minister proceeds with the reckless deal under the conditions published today, which means the end of the war and abandoning the goal to destroy Hamas, Otzma Yehudit will dissolve the government,” Ben-Gvir warned.

{Matzav.com}

As high-stakes elections approach in the U.S. and European Union, publicly available artificial intelligence tools can be easily weaponized to churn out convincing election lies in the voices of leading political figures, a digital civil rights group said Friday. Researchers at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Countering Digital Hate tested six of the most popular AI voice-cloning tools to see if they would generate audio clips of five false statements about elections in the voices of eight prominent American and European politicians. In a total of 240 tests, the tools generated convincing voice clones in 193 cases, or 80% of the time, the group found. In one clip, a fake U.S. President Joe Biden says election officials count each of his votes twice. In another, a fake French President Emmanuel Macron warns citizens not to vote because of bomb threats at the polls. The findings reveal a remarkable gap in safeguards against the use of AI-generated audio to mislead voters, a threat that increasingly worries experts as the technology has become both advanced and accessible. While some of the tools have rules or tech barriers in place to stop election disinformation from being generated, the researchers found many of those obstacles were easy to circumvent with quick workarounds. Only one of the companies whose tools were used by the researchers responded after multiple requests for comment. ElevenLabs said it was constantly looking for ways to boost its safeguards. With few laws in place to prevent abuse of these tools, the companies’ lack of self-regulation leaves voters vulnerable to AI-generated deception in a year of significant democratic elections around the world. E.U. voters head to the polls in parliamentary elections in less than a week, and U.S. primary elections are ongoing ahead of the presidential election this fall. “It’s so easy to use these platforms to create lies and to force politicians onto the back foot denying lies again and again and again,” said the center’s CEO, Imran Ahmed. “Unfortunately, our democracies are being sold out for naked greed by AI companies who are desperate to be first to market … despite the fact that they know their platforms simply aren’t safe.” The center — a nonprofit with offices in the U.S., the U.K. and Belgium — conducted the research in May. Researchers used the online analytics tool Semrush to identify the six publicly available AI voice-cloning tools with the most monthly organic web traffic: ElevenLabs, Speechify, PlayHT, Descript, Invideo AI and Veed. Next, they submitted real audio clips of the politicians speaking. They prompted the tools to impersonate the politicians’ voices making five baseless statements. One statement warned voters to stay home amid bomb threats at the polls. The other four were various confessions – of election manipulation, lying, using campaign funds for personal expenses and taking strong pills that cause memory loss. In addition to Biden and Macron, the tools made lifelike copies of the voices of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, former U.S. President Donald Trump, United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, U.K. Labour Leader Keir Starmer, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and E.U. Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton. “None of the AI voice cloning tools had sufficient safety measures to prevent the cloning of politicians’ voices or the production of election disinformation,” the report said. […]

A Jewish-American hero of World War II who stormed Utah Beach on D-Day and disappeared after an ambush in the Battle of Cherbourg has been found in a German mass grave, buried alongside Nazis.

Nearly 80 years after his death on June 23, 1944, Lt. Nathan Baskind is set to receive a proper burial.

Baskind, the son of Lithuanian and Russian immigrants who settled in Pittsburgh and ran a wallpaper business, was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942 at the age of 26, as documented by the Rauh Jewish Archives.

“He came from a successful family, he could have gotten out of [the war] if he wanted to,” said Shalom Lamm, co-founder of Operation Benjamin, a non-profit that identifies Jewish U.S. war veterans mistakenly buried under incorrect religious designations in American military cemeteries.

Baskind commanded four M-10 tank destroyers — modified Sherman tanks — in the US Army’s 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion during the fierce D-Day invasion.

After securing the beachhead, Allied forces aimed to capture the port city of Cherbourg, France.

As U.S. troops clashed with Nazi soldiers, who had orders from Adolf Hitler to defend the city at all costs, Baskind ventured behind enemy lines with only his driver on a reconnaissance mission.

They were ambushed.

Despite being “seriously wounded,” the driver managed to return to Allied lines and reported that Baskind had been struck by machine-gun and rifle fire and was presumed dead, according to Baskind’s personnel file at the National Archives.

US troops conducted an extensive search but found “no trace of Lt. Baskind or his vehicle,” the file states.

Listed as Missing in Action on July 13, 1944, Baskind was posthumously promoted from second to first lieutenant and awarded a Purple Heart.

Baskind’s name was added to the Wall of the Missing at the American Cemetery in Normandy, and his fate remained a mystery for nearly eight decades.

In 2022, a US genealogist visiting the German Marigny cemetery noticed a name on a plaque among 17 German soldiers that stood out — Baskind’s.

This prompted him to inform Operation Benjamin, and Lamm, along with his partner Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter, began their investigation.

The sleuths concluded it could be the long-lost lieutenant, and their senior genealogist, Rachel Silverman, contacted the German War Graves Commission, known as the Volksbund.

Digging through their archives, the Volksbund uncovered detailed documents that revealed Baskind’s fate.

After being captured and shot, Baskind was taken to a decrepit Luftwaffe hospital in Cherbourg, notorious for its “cesspool” conditions.

He died the night of his capture.

His remains were placed in a mass grave with 24 German soldiers in the hospital’s courtyard.

In 1957, this mass grave was unearthed, and the remains were reinterred in another mass grave 50 miles away at the German Marigny cemetery.

It is there, under three Gothic crosses, that Baskind’s remains were buried with 52 Nazi soldiers.

German officials found Baskind’s dog tag, a patch from the 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion, and lieutenant’s bars.

They informed the US Army, which twice failed to identify the remains.

Baskind’s family was told his body was “unrecoverable” — but were never informed of the Nazi grave.

“You have a Jewish kid from Pittsburgh buried with these enemy soldiers,” Lamm emotionally told The Post.

Lamm and Rabbi Schacter, a Yeshiva University professor, were committed to retrieving Baskind’s remains and returning him to his “family, his people, and his country.”

Operation Benjamin organized a visit to the mass grave where Baskind was buried — the first Jewish visit in 79 years.

At the gravesite, they recited the mourner’s kaddish and other traditional Jewish prayers.

“We are family, we are brothers, we are sisters,” Rabbi Schacter said in an emotional eulogy at the grave.

“We will never forget you.”

Baskind was the son of Lithuanian and Russian immigrants who settled in Pittsburgh.

“Everybody cried, everybody,” Lamm recalled.

“It was a magical, very sad, very emotional moment.”

Before the trip, Lamm sought the blessing of Lt. Baskind’s great-niece, Samantha Baskind, a professor of art history and Holocaust studies at Cleveland State University.

She made one request: “Would you put a stone there for me?” she asked.

This traditional Jewish gesture of placing a stone at a grave, which the Talmud says helps “keep a soul down in this world,” had significant implications.

In a meeting with German Brigadier Gen. Dirk Backen, Lamm played a video of Baskind’s great-niece urging him to allow Operation Benjamin to exhume the body.

“Knowing that he’s been buried in a German cemetery, so far from home and under a cross, is a jagged scar for my family,” Professor Baskind said.

Since the Germans wanted to identify another soldier’s remains in the same mass grave, they finally granted permission to exhume.

“The coincidence was amazing,” Lamm noted.

The exhumation, carried out over three days from Dec. 18 to 20, involved a team of 17 experts, including French and German anthropologists and University of Wisconsin specialists.

“I felt terrified,” Lamm admitted.

“It’s great to talk about it in theory but what if we’re wrong? What if we can’t find him? This is our one and only shot.”

The odds of finding Baskind’s remains were slim.

“We were exhausted, out of our minds,” Lamm recalled.

“The grave was soaked in water, and the soil was in terrible condition. The anthropologists doubted we’d find anything.”

“Our chances of success seemed to diminish at every step. It was looking very bleak.”

After retrieving numerous bones and separating potential matches for DNA testing, the remaining remains had to be reburied.

A German official asked Lamm, an Orthodox Jew, to lead the reburial service for the 52 German soldiers.

“I had a moment of panic,” Lamm confessed.

“You can’t make up a more surreal circumstance.”

In his speech at the grave, Lamm cited the Jewish custom of spilling drops of wine on Passover to symbolize not exalting in enemies’ demise.

“You are those drops of wine,” Lamm said about the fallen Germans.

Four weeks later, the moment of truth arrived.

DNA results confirmed a 99.989% match with samples from Baskind’s surviving family members.

After 79 years, Lt. Baskind was finally found.

“The match was spectacular — that was the hand of God,” Lamm said.

“The recovery of my great uncle… is almost surreal… it brings a measure of long-awaited solace to my family,” Professor Baskind stated.

Professor Baskind formally received her great-uncle’s Purple Heart from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency on May 22.

The German Army handed over Lt. Baskind’s remains to the US Army in a ceremony at Ramstein Air Force Base on May 28.

On June 23, the 80th anniversary of his death, Baskind will be buried at the American cemetery in Normandy with full military honors in a Jewish ceremony presided over by Rabbi Schacter.

{Matzav.com}

Germany joined the United States on Friday in authorizing Ukraine to hit some targets on Russian soil with the long-range weapons they are supplying — a significant policy change that comes as depleted Ukrainian troops are losing ground in the war. Ukrainian officials have expressed frustration over restrictions on the use of Western weapons — especially as the border region of Kharkiv has endured a Russian onslaught this month that has stretched Kyiv’s outgunned and outmanned forces. Both Germany and the U.S. specifically authorized the use of weapons to defend Kharkiv, whose capital city of the same name lies only 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Russia. Russian ballistic missiles slammed into an apartment building in the city overnight, Ukrainian officials said, killing at least six people. Beyond offering Ukraine a chance of better protecting Kharkiv by targeting Russian capabilities in the region, it’s not clear what effect the easing of restrictions might have on the direction of the conflict in what is proving to be a critical period. But it drew a furious response from Moscow and warnings it could draw Russia into war with NATO. The German government said Ukraine can use weapons it supplies against positions just over the border, from where Russia launches its attacks on Kharkiv. A day earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden gave Kyiv a green light to strike back with American weapons at Russian military assets targeting the region, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinken said Kyiv had asked Washington for permission to use U.S.-supplied weapons against the Kremlin’s troops amassing on the Russian side of the border for attacks inside Ukraine. Biden’s approval was for that purpose, Blinken said at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Prague. U.S. officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, stressed that the U.S. policy calling on Ukraine not to use American-provided ATACMS or long-range missiles and other munitions to strike offensively inside Russia has not changed. In response, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, said Friday that “Ukraine and its NATO allies will receive such a devastating response that the alliance won’t be able to avoid entering the conflict” — an eventuality that Western governments have ruled out. Western leaders have hesitated to ease the restrictions on their weapons because of the risk it would provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly warned that the West’s direct involvement could put the world on a path to nuclear conflict. Last week, Russia said military drills involving tactical nuclear weapons had begun. But as Russia has recently gained the battlefield initiative in some parts of the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, some Western leaders have pushed for a policy change allowing Kyiv to strike military bases inside Russia with sophisticated long-range weapons provided by its Western partners. The Kremlin’s bigger and better-equipped army is exploiting Ukrainian shortages in troops and ammunition after a lengthy delay in U.S. military aid. Western Europe’s inadequate military production has also slowed crucial deliveries to Ukraine. The German government statement noted that, in recent weeks, Russia has prepared, coordinated and carried out attacks on the Kharkiv region, in particular from areas just over the border in Russia. “Together we are convinced that Ukraine has the right under international law to defend itself against these attacks,” […]

All four United States congressional leaders signed on to a letter on Friday inviting Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to Washington to address a joint meeting of Congress. The letter was delivered to the Israeli embassy in Washington.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wrote to Netanyahu that “the existential challenges we face, including the growing partnership between Iran, Russia and China, threaten the security, peace and prosperity of our countries and of free people around the world.”

“To build on our enduring relationship and to highlight America’s solidarity with Israel, we invite you to share the Israeli government’s vision for defending democracy, combating terror and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region,” the letter added.

It notes that Hamas continues to hold hostages from both nations.

“We join the State of Israel in your struggle against terror, especially as Hamas continues to hold American and Israeli citizens captive and its leaders jeopardize regional stability,” the leaders wrote. “For this reason … we would like to invite you to address a joint meeting of Congress.”

While media reports indicate that the goal is to schedule the address in the next two months, it is understood that a tight Capitol schedule in an election year might push the visit back to after the August recess.

Earlier on Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden announced a multi-phased Israeli proposal to end its war with Hamas, including the gradual release of hostages and a release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners.

While Biden said Israel had degraded Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, he made no mention of any component of the proposal which would force Hamas from power in Gaza.

Elements of Biden’s Democratic party, including the president himself, have at times been harshly critical of Israel’s response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, causing a partisan splinter following near-universal sympathies from the Capitol in the wake of the brutal terror attack.

A price gauge closely tracked by the Federal Reserve cooled slightly last month, a sign that inflation may be easing after running high in the first three months of this year. Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that an index that excludes volatile food and energy costs rose 0.2% from March to April, down from 0.3% in the previous month. It was the mildest such increase so far this year. Measured from 12 months earlier, such so-called “core” prices climbed 2.8% in April, the same as in March. Overall inflation increased 0.3% from March to April, the same as in the previous month, and 2.7% from a year earlier, also unchanged from March’s figure. The latest figures could provide some tentative reassurance for Fed officials, who aggressively raised interest rates to fight inflation, that price pressures are easing. Chair Jerome Powell has said he expects inflation, after picking up in the first three months of 2024, to resume cooling in the coming months. Powell has cautioned, though, that the central bank needs “greater confidence” that inflation is sustainably slowing before it would consider cutting rates. “April is a first step in the right direction, but much work remains,” said Stephen Stanley, chief U.S. economist at Santander, an investment bank. The Fed tends to favor the inflation gauge that the government issued Friday — the personal consumption expenditures price index — over the better-known consumer price index. The PCE index tries to account for changes in how people shop when inflation jumps. It can capture, for example, when consumers switch from pricier national brands to cheaper store brands. Inflation fell sharply in the second half of last year before sticking well above the Fed’s 2% target in the first few months of 2024. With polls showing that costlier rents, groceries and gasoline are angering voters as the presidential campaign intensifies, Donald Trump and his Republican allies have sought to heap the blame on President Joe Biden. Friday’s report also showed that income growth slowed and spending cooled sharply in April, a trend that could help moderate economic growth and inflation in the coming months and potentially please the Fed. Adjusted for inflation, after-tax incomes fell 0.1% in April, the second such drop this year. Consumer spending also declined 0.1% when adjusted for inflation, a sign that economic growth may remain modest in the current April-June quarter. The Fed will likely see such data as evidence that the economy is cooling in a way that could restrain inflation later this year. Many Americans, particularly lower-income workers, have been pulling back on spending as they struggle to keep up with rising expenses, leading some businesses to rein in prices. In recent weeks, chains including McDonald’s, Target and Walmart have announced price reductions or temporary discount deals. Grocery prices eased last month, according to Friday’s report, though they’re still up significantly from before the pandemic. The prices of long-lasting goods also dropped, led by less expensive new and used cars, furniture and appliances. The cost of used cars has declined nearly 5% over the past year. Gas prices, though, jumped 2.7%, just from March to April. Likewise, the costs of many services rose faster than the Fed would like. Restaurant meals, for example, increased 0.3% from March to April and are up 4% […]

Over Shabbos, Hezbollah fired Burkan rockets, hitting the Gibor military base in Kiryat Shmona in a direct hit.

In the afternoon, two rockets were found in the city, one on a military base and the other in a supermarket, which was closed.

The rockets damaged the base, along with vehicles and structures in the city. In addition, several fires broke out in the area, and firefighters were called to the scene.

The Burkan rockets are not very precise, but they are capale of carrying up to half a ton of explosive material. The rockets were developed with Iranian guidance, at the start of the Syrian Civil War in the previous decade, to aid Assad’s forces. Once operational, they were diverted for use against Israel, primarily from hidden launchers operated remotely.

{Matzav.com}

A fake news report that appeared on Poland’s national news agency saying that Prime Minister Donald Tusk was mobilizing 200,000 men starting on July 1 was probably the work of Russia-sponsored hackers and was designed to interfere with the upcoming European Parliament election, authorities said. “Everything indicates that we are dealing with a cyberattack directed from the Russian side,” said Krzysztof Gawkowski, a deputy prime minister who also holds the digital affairs portfolio. “The goal is disinformation ahead of (European Parliament) elections and a paralysis of the society.” Tusk said on X that it was “Another very dangerous hacker attack which well illustrates Russia’s destabilization strategy on the eve of the European elections. … It is increasingly clear how important these elections are for us.” Russian authorities didn’t immediately provide a reaction to the allegations. The unprofessional-looking “urgent” report appeared Friday at 2 p.m. (1200 GMT) on Polish News Agency, or PAP, the country’s national wire service. Eight minutes later, the agency “killed,” or removed, the report and then issued a statement saying that it wasn’t the source of the article. The hack was repeated and the fake news was pushed again to the wire and was killed again. Security officials said that their experts were working to find the source of the hack, and also insulate PAP from further attempts to publish fake news on its systems. The government says that Poland, which supports Ukraine in the war with Russia, is being targeted in a hybrid war directed by the intelligence services of Russia and Belarus. Polish authorities say the techniques being used include sending migrants to the border from the Belarus side; sabotage including attempted arsons; espionage cases; and cyberattacks on state administration offices. Gawkowski said that Poland’s sensitive infrastructure was being subjected all the time to various kinds of incidents and cyberattacks. The European Parliament election in Poland will be held on June 9. (AP)

Last-minute computer trouble nixed Saturday’s launch attempt for Boeing’s first astronaut flight, the latest in a string of delays over the years. Two NASA astronauts were strapped in the company’s Starliner capsule when the countdown automatically was halted at 3 minutes and 50 seconds by the computer system that controls the final minutes before liftoff. With only a split second to take off, there was no time to work the latest problem and the launch was called off. Technicians raced to the pad to help astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams out of the capsule atop the fully fueled Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Within an hour of the launch abort, the hatch was reopened. The team can’t get to the computers to troubleshoot the problem until the rocket is drained of all its fuel, said Tory Bruno, CEO for the rocket maker, United Launch Alliance. Bruno said one of the three redundant computers located near the rocket at the pad was sluggish. All three must work properly to proceed with a launch, he said. Depending on what needs to be fixed, the next launch attempt could be as early as Wednesday. If it doesn’t blast off this coming week, then that would be it until mid-June in order to move the rocket off the pad and replace batteries. “This is the business that we’re in,” Boeing’s Mark Nappi said. “Everything’s got to work perfectly.” It was the second launch attempt. The first try on May 6 was delayed for leak checks and rocket repairs. NASA wants a backup to SpaceX, which has been flying astronauts since 2020. Boeing should have launched its first crew around the same time as SpaceX, but its first test flight with no one on board in 2019 was plagued by severe software issues and never made it to the space station. A redo in 2022 fared better, but parachute problems and flammable later caused more delays. A small helium leak in the capsule’s propulsion system last month came on top of a rocket valve issue. More valve trouble cropped up two hours before Saturday’s planned liftoff, but the team used a backup circuit to get the ground-equipment valves working to top off the fuel for the rocket’s upper stage. Launch controllers were relieved to keep pushing ahead, but the computer system known as the ground launch sequencer ended the effort. “Of course, this is emotionally disappointing,” NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, the backup pilot, said from neighboring Kennedy Space Center shortly after the countdown was halted. But he said delays are part of spaceflight. “We’re going to have a great launch in our future.” (AP)

In a statement on Friday, Hamas responded positively to Biden’s ceasefire proposal to end the war in Gaza. Hamas said it is ready to consider positively any proposal based on a permanent ceasefire, a complete IDF withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction of the Strip, return of the Palestinians to their homes throughout Gaza, and the implementation of a ‘serious’ swap deal.

Abu Hamza, the spokesman for the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, said that the return of the hostages will not take place until after the end of the “aggression,” meaning the the complete withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip.

Abu Hamza said in a recorded message published on the Islamic Jihad’s Telegram channel that ending the war in the Gaza Strip is the only way to free the hostages and return the residents to the settlements around the Gaza Strip.

“We tell the Israelis: Do not listen to your leadership, for your return to the settlements will not happen except after the end of the war against Gaza,” said the terrorist spokesman.

According to Abu Hamza, over the past few weeks, terrorists from Islamic Jihad have downed 11 unmanned Israeli aircraft and launched rockets at Be’er Sheva, Sderot, and Ashkelon.

{Matzav.com}

The Nachal Brigade Combat Team, under the command of the 162nd Division, has made significant progress in its ongoing operations against terrorist operatives and infrastructure in the Rafah area. Among the incidents the troops were recently involved in included one in which they sent a drone to scan a suspicious home, finding it be booby-trapped with large barrels ready to explode. In other parts of the operation, the soldiers have uncovered large caches of weapons, including a rocket launcher with six launchers aimed at Israeli territory, and a weapons storage facility containing dozens of grenades, explosives, AK-47s, ammunition, and combat vests. The soldiers have also discovered multiple tunnel shafts in the area, engaging and eliminating terrorists in intense underground combat. The Brigade’s Fire Control Center has destroyed dozens of terrorist infrastructure sites, including positions from which anti-tank fire was carried out towards IDF troops, weapons storage facilities, sniper posts, and terrorist operatives who posed a threat to IDF troops. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Embracing Donald Trump’s strategy of blaming the U.S. justice system after his historic guilty verdict, Republicans in Congress are fervently enlisting themselves in his campaign of vengeance and political retribution as the GOP runs to reclaim the White House. Almost no Republican official has stood up to suggest Trump should not be the party’s presidential candidate for the November election — in fact, some have sought to hasten his nomination. Few others dared to defend the legitimacy of the New York state court that heard the hush money case or the 12 jurors who unanimously rendered their verdict. And those Republicans who expressed doubts about Trump’s innocence or political viability, including his former hawkish national security adviser John Bolton or top-tier Senate candidate Larry Hogan of Maryland, were instantly bullied by the former president’s enforcers and told to “leave the party.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said she’s voting for Trump “whether he is a free man or a prisoner of the Biden regime.” She also posted the upside-down American flag that has come to symbolize the “Stop the Steal” movement Trump started with allies before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The swift, strident and deepening commitment to Trump despite his felony conviction shows how fully Republican leaders and lawmakers have been infused with his unfounded grievances of a “rigged” system and dangerous conspiracies of “weaponized” government, using them in their own attacks on President Joe Biden and the Democrats. Rather than shunning Trump’s escalating authoritarian language or ensuring they will provide checks and balances for a second Trump term, the Republican senators and representatives are upturning longstanding faith in U.S. governance, and setting the stage for what they plan to do if Trump regains power. On Friday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, demanded the prosecutors Alvin Bragg and Matthew Colangelo appear for a June hearing on the “weaponization of the federal government” and “the unprecedented political prosecution” of Trump — despite the fact that Biden, as president, has no authority over the state courts in New York. “What we’re gearing up for is if Trump wins, he’s going to use the apparatus of the state to target his political opponents,” said Jason Stanley, a professor at Yale and the author of “How Fascism Works.” Stanley said history is full of examples of people not believing the rhetoric of authoritarians. “Believe what they say,” he said. “He’s literally telling you he’s going to use the apparatus of the state to target his political opponents.” At his Trump Tower on Friday in New York, the former president returned to the kinds of attacks he has repeatedly lodged in campaign speeches, portraying Biden as the one who is “corrupt” and the U.S. as a “fascist” nation. Trump called the members of the bipartisan House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol “thugs” and said Biden was a “Manchurian candidate,” a phrase inspired by the 1960s movie portraying a puppet of a U.S. political enemy. A Trump campaign memo contained talking points for Republican lawmakers, suggesting they call the case a “sham,” “hoax,” “witch hunt,” “election interference” and “lawfare” designed by Biden, whom it called “crooked.” Biden faces no such charges, and the House GOP’s efforts to impeach the president over his son […]

North Korea launched more trash-carrying balloons toward the South after a similar campaign earlier in the week, according to South Korea’s military, in what Pyongyang calls retaliation for activists flying anti-North Korean leaflets across the border. South Korea’s Defense Ministry did not immediately comment on the number of balloons or how many landed in South Korea. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing anonymous military sources, said officials as of Saturday night found about 90 balloons that dropped paper and plastic trash and cigarette buts in areas in the capital, Seoul, and nearby Gyeonggi province. The military advised people to beware of falling objects and not to touch objects suspected to be from North Korea but report them to military or police offices instead. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. In Seoul, the city government sent text alerts saying that unidentified objects suspected to be flown from North Korea were detected in skies near the city and that the military was responding to them. The North’s balloon launches added to a recent series of provocative steps, which include its failed spy satellite launch and and a barrage of short-range missiles launches this week that the North said was intended to demonstrate its ability to attack the South preemptively. South Korea’s military dispatched chemical rapid response and explosive clearance teams to recover the debris from some 260 North Korean balloons that were found in various parts of the country from Tuesday night to Wednesday. The military said the balloons carried various types of trash and manure but no dangerous substances like chemical, biological or radioactive materials. Some of the balloons were found with timers that suggested they were designed to pop the bags of trash midair. In a statement on Wednesday, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, confirmed that the North sent the balloons to make good on her country’s recent threat to “scatter mounds of wastepaper and filth” in South Korea in response to leafleting campaigns by South Korean activists. She hinted that balloons could become the North’s standard response to leafletting moving forward, saying that the North would respond by “scattering rubbish dozens of times more than those being scattered to us.” South Korea’s military has said it has no plans to shoot down the balloons, citing concerns about causing damage or the possibility that they might contain dangerous substances. Firing at balloons near the border would also risk triggering a retaliation from the North at a time of high tensions. “(We) decided it was best to let the balloons drop and recover them safely,” Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a briefing Thursday. North Korea is extremely sensitive about any outside attempt to undermine Kim Jong Un’s absolute control over the country’s 26 million people, most of whom have little access to foreign news. In 2020, North Korea blew up an empty South Korean-built liaison office on its territory after a furious response to South Korean civilian leafleting campaigns. In 2014, North Korea fired at propaganda balloons flying toward its territory and South Korea returned fire, though there were no casualties. In 2022, North Korea even suggested that balloons flown from South Korea had caused a COVID-19 outbreak in the isolated nation, […]

Donald Trump might be required to perform community service tasks such as picking up street trash, cleaning graffiti, or other menial jobs as part of his sentencing for his felony conviction, according to experts.

Trump, 77, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11 by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, after becoming the first US president in history to be convicted of a crime on Thursday.

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee was found guilty by a jury on 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

In July, Trump could receive community service at his sentencing, potentially including menial labor such as picking up trash.

The former real estate mogul faces a maximum of four years in prison for each of the 34 counts. Should he be sentenced to less than a year, he would go to jail rather than prison.

However, because Trump was convicted of non-violent offenses and has no prior convictions, legal experts believe he is unlikely to receive a prison sentence. Probation or a conditional discharge is more probable.

“Trump can get a prison sentence, probation, or even a jail sentence if he receives a year or less,” criminal defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman told The Post. “He could also receive community service as part of a probationary sentence, including picking up trash on the side of the road.”

On Thursday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to specify what punishment his office would pursue.

Trump’s legal team must submit their sentencing recommendation to Merchan by June 13, aiming for a no-jail term. Bragg’s office will submit its recommendation by June 27.

Before then, Trump will need to meet with the probation department to discuss his background and his views on the case, allowing the agency to prepare a report for the judge to consider during sentencing.

“I don’t expect a prison [or] jail sentence but anything is possible from this judge and this district attorney,” Lichtman stated.

What could probation or conditional discharge look like for Trump? The judge has the discretion to set conditions for probation or conditional release.

Trump could be sentenced to up to five years of probation, requiring regular check-ins with a probation officer to ensure compliance with the judge’s conditions.

These conditions could include not committing further crimes, paying fines by a set date, or notifying a probation office of his travel plans, explained New York Law School Professor Anna Cominsky.

Alternatively, Trump could face a three-year conditional discharge, similar to probation, where he must follow the judge’s rules but without monitoring by an officer, Cominsky noted.

“Conditional discharge has less supervision than probation,” she said.

Logistically, it could be challenging to have Trump monitored by a probation officer, as a former president still needs to travel, host events, and fulfill other public figure duties.

“A former president has a lot of responsibilities,” said criminal defense lawyer Jeremy Saland, a former Manhattan DA’s office prosecutor. “Probation would be too administratively difficult for someone who is the former president of the US.”

Merchan might require Trump to perform community service, which he could complete through a court-approved program or by volunteering at a non-profit organization of his choice.

“They can have you cleaning the street, removing graffiti or something getting your hands as dirty as that,” Saland said of the community service programs.

Cominsky added that other examples could include working at a food bank or in a community garden.

{Dov T. Heller – Matzav.com}

Governor Kathy Hochul is contemplating a prohibition on smartphones in New York schools to enhance student safety and ensure their focus remains on education.

The governor asserts that children scrolling through social media during school hours is detrimental.

“Why are our young people on their devices all day long during school hours?” Hochul questioned in an MSNBC interview. “How are they learning?”

Hochul believes that addictive algorithms trap young people in a space that isolates them from real social interactions.

She proposes a simple solution — flip phones without internet capability — allowing parents to still contact their children in emergencies.

“You don’t have to be in the world of social media throughout the day,” she said.

However, many teenagers see their phones as indispensable.

“Sometimes teachers give us the opportunity to use them, so is it really that bad if I’m using it if I can,” remarked student Konsta Konstantopoulos.

Students at Stuyvesant High School informed Eyewitness News reporter Kemberly Richardson that some regulations already exist, such as no phone calls in the hallways.

Student Gabriella Vernik mentioned she doesn’t mind these rules.

“Usually, we have a five-minute break and I’ll check messages, but in class I’m focused on whatever teachers are doing,” Vernik said.

Hochul indicated she will likely introduce a bill later this year for lawmakers to consider in the next legislative session.

In the meantime, she intends to engage in discussions with parents and educators.

“I want to have conversations first, I think talking to the parents, I have already, this is something they would welcome,” she said.

New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks stated that phone use policies in public schools vary by school and will be reassessed considering Hochul’s proposed ban.

“Kids are on these phones 24 hours a day, and there is all types of research that is coming in, talking about all the negative impacts that it’s having on them,” Banks said. “In light of what the governor just said, I think it’s incumbent on us to absolutely start exploring these issues.”

{Dov T. Heller – Matzav.com}

Our hearts were broken from the terrible news that we heard on Thursday night. Shmuel Brog z”l, the beautiful, pure four-year-old son of our friend, Reb Avrohom Brog, passed away in a tragic car accident. There is nothing we can say to minimize the family’s suffering or assuage their unspeakable pain. All we can do is join them in their time of mourning and bereavement.

The many friends of the family are joining together to write a Sefer Torah in Shmuel’s memory, in order to perpetuate the memory of this beloved young boy and so that the zechus of a Sefer Torah will be a merit for his neshamah in the Olam Ha’emes. When the Torah is read in shul, it will be a great nechamah for the grieving parents and will provide them with some consolation and solace from their incredible pain. By collectively donating to this fund, we can help them during their time of sorrow and assist them in rebuilding their lives after this terrible tragedy.

This campaign is endorsed by Rav Simcha Bunim Londinsky, rov of Ohr Gedaliah of Lakewood.

TAKE PART IN THE CAMPAIGN HERE.

All questions, comments, and additional donation inquiries can be directed to Rabbi Yaakov Levitin at 732-232-0534 or Ylevitin86@gmail.com.

The tax ID for this campaign is 834411630.

{Matzav.com}