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Smoke drifting south from massive Canadian wildfires blanketed New York City this week, transforming the skyline into an eerie orange landscape and prompting officials to urge residents to remain indoors as hazardous air quality gripped the region.

A dramatic time-lapse recorded Wednesday captured the rapid change, showing bright blue skies gradually fading into a yellow haze as thick smoke spread across the metropolitan area from the fires burning in Canada.

By sunset, live footage from EarthCam revealed the city’s skyline glowing with an unsettling pale orange tint as the smoke continued to thicken overhead.

The smoky conditions persisted into Thursday, leading the National Weather Service to issue an Air Quality Alert covering New York City.

Air quality readings remained in the unhealthy range, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) fluctuating between 151 and 200 as authorities encouraged residents to avoid spending time outdoors whenever possible.

“[The] combination of dangerous heat and unhealthy air is a serious threat to New Yorkers’ health,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on X.

“If you can, stay somewhere cool with air conditioning, limit your time outdoors, drink plenty of water, and check on your neighbors — especially older New Yorkers and anyone with a health condition.”

To help protect residents from the smoky conditions, city officials are distributing free KN95 masks at neighborhood libraries and police precincts.

Health officials warned that while the polluted air poses risks for everyone, it is particularly dangerous for people with respiratory conditions such as asthma and other breathing disorders.

The air quality concerns are being intensified by an ongoing heat advisory affecting the city.

As a result, New York City has extended the operating hours of its cooling centers through Thursday, while residents enrolled in the Notify NYC system will continue receiving alerts about changing weather and air quality conditions.

New York City Council members approved a controversial pay increase for themselves on Thursday, overwhelmingly backing legislation that boosts their salaries by 18% despite widespread concerns over affordability across the city. The measure also raises the mayor’s salary, although Mayor Zohran Mamdani has pledged not to accept the additional pay.

The legislation passed by a veto-proof margin of 42-6, increasing City Council members’ annual salaries to $175,500. It also raises the mayor’s salary to $305,800 per year, with both increases retroactive to January, when the current terms began and several newly elected officials took office.

Every vote against the proposal came from Republicans and conservative Democrats. Among them was Councilman Phil Wong (D-Queens), who argued that approving a raise for elected officials sends the wrong message while many New Yorkers continue to struggle financially and the city budget remains enormous.

“In my district, there are so, so many constituents that are living paycheck to paycheck and having problems making ends meet,” he said.

“So, I cannot vote onto a bill to increase salaries for myself.”

The vote came on the heels of the City Council’s approval of a record $126 billion municipal budget and follows an unsuccessful attempt late last year to quietly enact a smaller 16% salary increase before the close of 2025.

After that effort collapsed, Councilwoman Nantasha Williams (D-Queens), who had led the previous push, renewed the campaign with the backing of a three-member Quadrennial Commission established to evaluate elected officials’ compensation.

In June, the commission issued a 127-page report recommending an 18.2% increase, arguing that inflation and rising living expenses had significantly eroded the purchasing power of public officials’ salaries.

The commission also proposed instituting automatic annual raises of at least 2% going forward.

Council members, however, removed that provision before final passage, deciding instead that the compensation commission would reconvene every three years to review salaries.

Under the approved legislation, the annual salaries will increase as follows:

• Mayor: from $258,750 to $305,800
• City Council members: from $148,500 to $175,500
• Council Speaker: from $164,500 to $194,400

Council Speaker Julie Menin, who is independently wealthy, was the only member to abstain from the vote. She announced that although she did not vote against the measure, she would decline to accept the higher salary.

Before the vote, Menin said the Council had sought inflation-related raises for middle-income municipal workers, including emergency responders, but faulted the Mamdani administration for failing to move those efforts forward.

“Let me just be clear: we pushed for the wages for the EMS workers. We pushed for the FDNY. We pushed really hard for that,” she said. “The administration did not want to do either.”

Mamdani, who won the mayor’s office on a campaign centered on affordability, said during an unrelated event Thursday that he has no intention of taking the raise and would rather see the money benefit struggling residents.

“I will not accept a pay raise,” he said.

“I haven’t knocked on anyone’s door in New York City and they said their concern is that the mayor makes too little. So, that’s not my concern either.”

Council Minority Leader David Carr (R-Staten Island) criticized the process itself, arguing that elected officials should not be responsible for determining their own compensation.

“I just don’t think elected officials should vote on their own pay,” he said.

“Make raises pegged to the city’s managerial employee increases, which are based on the collective bargaining process, or make them automatic cost-of-living increases like Congress does, but don’t make it political.”

The previous time City Council members approved salary increases for themselves and other city officials was in 2016, during the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio.

That year, lawmakers approved a 23% pay increase, raising their salaries to $138,315 annually while also redesignating Council positions as full-time jobs and imposing new restrictions on outside earnings.

{Matzav.com}

A complaint filed against Rishon LeZion and Chief Rabbi of Israel Rav Dovid Yosef over sharp comments he directed at Israel’s High Court of Justice during the controversy surrounding a Shabbos court hearing has been upheld by the Commissioner for Complaints Against Judges, retired Judge Asher Kula. Despite the ruling, no disciplinary action was taken against the Rav.

In his decision issued on Thursday, Kula wrote that the question of whether a court hearing should take place on Shabbos is not part of the Chief Rabbi’s official responsibilities. As a result, he determined that Rav Yosef’s statements on the matter are not covered by the legal protections granted to him when carrying out his official duties.

Kula found that several of Rav Yosef’s remarks—including describing the justices as “these insolent judges,” accusing them of “trampling the Holy Torah,” and referring to the High Court of Justice as “an enemy of Judaism”—crossed the line from legitimate public criticism.

The commissioner further wrote that language of this nature does not reflect the dignified public conduct expected of someone serving in a judicial role and warned that such statements have the potential to weaken public confidence in the judicial system.

At the same time, Kula rejected a separate complaint that challenged Rav Yosef’s criticism of a High Court ruling requiring the Chief Rabbinate to permit women to take the Rabbinate certification examinations.

He concluded that this issue falls directly within the Chief Rabbi’s area of responsibility and authority, making his comments part of his official role and leaving no grounds for intervention.

Although the commissioner upheld one of the complaints, he decided not to impose any sanctions on Rav Dovid Yosef.

{Matzav.com}

A longtime teleprompter operator for President Donald Trump has been placed on unpaid administrative leave after federal investigators reportedly concluded that he used advance knowledge of the president’s prepared speeches to make profitable wagers on a prediction market. According to sources familiar with the investigation, the employee allegedly earned more than $100,000 through the trades and is now negotiating a settlement with federal regulators.

Sources told ABC News that Gabriel Perez, who has served as Trump’s teleprompter operator since 2016, is accused of placing bets on more than a dozen presidential speeches using inside knowledge of their contents. Investigators with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) reportedly believe the wagers generated profits exceeding $100,000.

According to those sources, the investigation began after prediction market platform Kalshi detected suspicious activity involving its “Mentions” market, where participants wager on whether particular words, phrases, or topics will be spoken during public addresses. The company alerted the CFTC after identifying the unusual betting pattern.

“Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC, and we are cooperating and assisting regulators,” Kalshi’s head of enforcement, Bobby DeNault, said in a statement provided to ABC News.

Responding to the report on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Perez has been placed on unpaid administrative leave. She said she discussed the matter with President Trump, who considered the allegations a “disgrace” and personally decided that Perez should be suspended without pay.

Leavitt also said she is not aware of any other White House employees who participated in similar trading activity.

“The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow,” said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle when contacted by ABC News.

Investigators reportedly found that Perez placed wagers on numerous Trump speeches over a three-month period, including the president’s February State of the Union address, a December primetime speech, his January appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and remarks delivered during a Medal of Honor ceremony in March.

Following those events, the White House circulated an internal memorandum in March reminding employees that they are prohibited from using nonpublic information to place bets on prediction markets, according to sources previously cited by ABC News.

Perez has remained one of President Trump’s teleprompter operators throughout the investigation, a position he has held since Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2016.

Sources said Perez is typically among the final staff members to review the president’s prepared remarks before delivery and frequently receives last-minute edits directly from Trump. He also drew scrutiny from congressional and federal investigators over edits made before Trump’s remarks surrounding the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Despite relying on prepared speeches, Trump is well known for departing from the teleprompter during his remarks.

“You know, when you go up here, you take a big chance, especially me because I go off teleprompter about 80% of the time,” Trump said during remarks in January to the Detroit Economic Club, another speech federal investigators believe was among those Perez betted on.

Investigators also reportedly uncovered instances in which Perez withdrew certain wagers while speeches were still underway after Trump skipped sections that contained words Perez had predicted would be spoken.

Sources familiar with the case said Perez acknowledged making some of the trades during an interview with regulators. They added that although the CFTC referred the matter to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, prosecutors ultimately declined to pursue criminal charges.

Negotiations between Perez and the CFTC are ongoing. According to sources, regulators are considering a settlement that would require him to surrender any profits and agree not to engage in similar trading in the future.

Kalshi prohibits users from placing bets based on confidential information obtained through their employment.

Last month, the company strengthened its compliance policies by requiring users to disclose where they work.

“If you have information by virtue of your job or your employment, something that you have a legal duty surrounding, and you have an obligation not to take that, misappropriate it for yourself,” DeNault told ABC News in May.

Federal authorities have recently brought the first insider-trading cases involving prediction markets. One case involves a U.S. special forces soldier accused of wagering on the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, while another involves a Google employee accused of using internal search data to place bets. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Although President Trump has expressed reservations about prediction markets in the past, he said in April that he supports allowing companies such as Kalshi and Polymarket to operate so the United States does not fall behind other countries.

“Well the whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino, and you look at what’s going on all over the world in Europe and every place they’re doing these betting things. I was never much in favor of it. I don’t like it conceptually, but it is what it is,” Trump told reporters.

Last October, Trump Media and Technology Group announced that it was exploring the possibility of launching its own prediction market platform.

{Matzav.com}

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Thursday that the Trump administration will soon classify additional violent far-left organizations as foreign terrorist groups, warning that politically motivated extremism has become an increasingly dangerous international threat.

Speaking at the State Department’s Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism, Rubio said the administration is broadening its counterterrorism efforts beyond Islamist terrorism to confront what he described as an expanding network of violent far-left organizations operating across international borders.

“Last November, the State Department designated four violent far-left extremist groups as foreign terrorist organizations, and there will be more designations soon,” Rubio told attendees.

Rubio pointed to the murder of conservative leader Charlie Kirk, the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and multiple assassination attempts against President Donald Trump as examples of what he described as a “distinctive and unique evil.”

He argued that violent activity by far-left extremists has long been minimized or ignored by the media, academic institutions, and government officials despite a lengthy historical record.

“Far-left political terrorism is not a recent-day modern novelty. It is not a fiction manufactured by conservative politicians,” Rubio said. “For most of the modern era, it was in fact the dominant form of political violence.”

A State Department fact sheet released during the conference stated that far-left anti-government extremists were responsible for 63% of all documented anti-government attacks or plots in the United States during 2025.

The department also said violent far-left and anarchist organizations carried out the majority of politically motivated attacks throughout the Western world during the 1970s and 1980s and have stepped up attacks on critical infrastructure in both Europe and the United States in recent years.

The conference drew representatives from more than 60 nations across Europe, Asia, and the Western Hemisphere to strengthen intelligence sharing, enhance cooperation between law enforcement agencies, and coordinate financial efforts to dismantle international extremist organizations.

State Department officials also highlighted the Rewards for Justice program, which offers up to $10 million for information that helps disrupt the financing of designated extremist groups. The department said the United States is also partnering with allied nations to curb terrorist travel and improve cross-border investigations.

Rubio concluded by warning that today’s extremist organizations collaborate internationally through encrypted communications, fundraising operations, and training networks, making a unified global response essential.

“Through intelligence and information sharing, through coordinated law enforcement strategy, through financial targeting and disruption, we will dismantle these networks brick by brick,” Rubio said. “It is time for the people of the civilized world to defend ourselves.”

{Matzav.com}

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Thursday that it is seeking to impose a $255,000 civil penalty against United Airlines, alleging the carrier failed to comply with federal drug and alcohol testing requirements.

According to the FAA, United permitted a flight attendant to carry out safety-sensitive responsibilities on 47 flights during 2024 and 2025 without first completing the required evaluation by a substance abuse professional, obtaining a verified negative return-to-duty drug test, or undergoing mandatory follow-up testing. The agency said the employee had been fired by United in 2021 after refusing to take a drug test but was later rehired.

United Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the proposed penalty.

The FAA has recently taken similar enforcement actions against other major airlines. In April, the agency proposed fines of $255,000 against American Airlines and $304,000 against Southwest Airlines over alleged violations of federal drug and alcohol regulations.

{Matzav.com}

The United States intensified its military campaign against Iran on Thursday night, carrying out a fifth consecutive evening of strikes as Washington continued efforts to weaken Tehran’s military capabilities.

US Central Command said the latest wave of attacks was part of an ongoing operation designed to further reduce Iran’s military strength and operational capacity.

Earlier Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the US naval blockade of vessels traveling to and from Iranian ports is now fully operational. She explained that the blockade was reinstated because of “Iran’s inability to honor their agreement with the United States of America.”

Leavitt said the operation is being carried out by a formidable American force that includes more than 10,000 sailors, marines, and airmen, supported by two aircraft carriers, over 20 warships, and dozens of military aircraft.

Describing the blockade’s initial results, Leavitt said that during its first 24 hours, CENTCOM redirected two compliant commercial vessels and “disabled” one compliant vessel.

{Matzav.com}