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Three Israelis were injured in a Hezbollah anti-tank guided missile attack on the Kfar Yuval area in northern Israel on Sunday evening. One victim, a man in his 40s, was seriously injured. He was evacuated to Ziv Hospital in Tzfas but was later airlifted to Rambam Hospital in Haifa, which is better equipped to treat his injuries. The two other victims were moderately injured and were hospitalized in Ziv. Following the attack, the IDF revealed that one of the moderately wounded victims was an IDF reserve soldier who also serves on the Kfar Yuval security team. Hezbollah also fired 30 rockets at Israel on Sunday at several areas but Baruch Hashem there were no injuries. The IDF responded to the attack with artillery fire at southern Lebanon. Hezbollah fire resumed on Monday morning and a missile scored a direct hit on a home on the moshav of Avivim. B’Chasdei Hashem, no one was injured but the house was heavily damaged. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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B’Chasdei Hashem, a possible mass-casualty bombing at the entrance to the yishuv of Ateret in Binyamin was averted in the pre-dawn hours of Monday morning. At about 4:30 a.m., security officers discovered an unoccupied car at the entrance to the yishuv. IDF soldiers and police officers called to the scene discovered that the car was equipped with two large gas canisters connected to a detonator. Military and police bomb sappers immediately began feverishly working on neutralizing the explosive device, and baruch Hashem, managed to do so before it exploded. Meanwhile, as the day began, the entrance of the yishuv was closed off and Highway 465, which crosses Binyamin, was blocked to traffic between the British Police Junction and Neve Tzuf. School buses heading to the yishuv were redirected. Religious Zionism MK Ohad Tal responded to the report by stating: “The third car bomb in three days. Together with the attack in Tel Aviv two weeks ago, we can already regretfully say – the second intifada is back. The IDF must launch a large-scale operation in Yehudah and Shomron today!” Yisrael Gantz, chairman of the Binyamin Regional and Yesha Councils, stated: “A great miracle happened this morning in Binyamin. Terrorism in Yehudah and Shomron requires military action just like in Gaza and Rafah.” The terrorists apparently attempted a new tactic to harm Jews following the car bombings at a gas station and the Karmei Tzur yishuv in Gush Etzion on Friday night. In a huge neis, although both bombs exploded, only the terrorists were killed and several Israelis were lightly wounded. Tragically, a terrorist murdered three police officers in a shooting attack near Chevron on Sunday. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Russia perceives U.S. Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris as a more predictable rival compared to Republican Donald Trump. Nonetheless, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that relations with Washington are unlikely to improve regardless of who wins the election.

During an interview with Pavel Zarubin, a TV journalist with close Kremlin connections, Peskov seemed to brush off Trump’s claim that he could resolve the Ukraine conflict within a day if re-elected.

Before Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race and endorsement of Harris, Russian President Vladimir Putin had expressed a preference for Biden over Trump, labeling Biden as a seasoned, “old school” politician.

With Biden no longer a candidate, Zarubin jokingly asked Peskov, “So, who is our candidate now?”

Peskov, also laughing, responded, “We have no candidate. But, of course, the Democrats are more predictable. And what Putin said about Biden’s predictability applies to almost all Democrats, including Ms. Harris.”

Although both Putin and Peskov have remarked that the election is a domestic U.S. affair, they have shared various opinions at different times. For instance, in February, Putin lauded Biden’s predictability but also touched on the delicate issue of Biden’s mental fitness, seemingly intending to stir controversy.

In June, Putin stated that Russia had no preference for the next U.S. president, but he noted that the U.S. judicial system appeared to be weaponized against Trump.

In the interview published on Sunday, Peskov criticized U.S. actions that he claimed have overstepped acceptable boundaries in harming Russia’s interests. He described bilateral relations as being at an all-time low, with no current prospects for recovery.

Peskov also remarked that there was no “magic wand” capable of swiftly resolving the Ukraine situation as Trump had suggested.

He labeled it “fantasy” to believe that the incoming U.S. president would declare in their inauguration address a cessation of military aid to Ukraine and a call for peace talks, expecting such a move to alter attitudes in Kyiv.

{Matzav.com}

Mainstream media outlets, including CNN, NBC, and USA Today, are facing intense backlash for what have been called misleading and “vile” headlines about the brutal murder of six hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, Breitbart reports.

On Sunday, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced the hostages had been cruelly murdered by Hamas as Israeli soldiers closed in on their location, possibly based on intelligence provided by a hostage rescued last week.

The six hostages, whose bodies were found Motzoei Shabbos in a tunnel underneath Gaza — including American Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin — were discovered in Rafah, the same city that Vice President Kamala Harris had told Israel not to enter.

But mainstream media outlets, including CNN, NBC, and USA Today, covering the recovery of the bodies, sparked outrage by initially reporting that one of the victims had “died” rather than had been “murdered.”

The cause of the hostages’ death was not clear for about 90 minutes after Hersh Goldberg-Polin was first revealed to be among the victims, which is why some outlets may have been reluctant to use the word “murder.” Mainstream media headlines currently reflect reports by Israeli authorities that the hostages were murdered. However, screen grabs of the initial headlines continued to spark outrage after reports emerged on Sunday that Hamas terrorists had shot each of the six hostages in the head before Israeli soldiers could rescue them.

In response, critics across social media, including politicians and journalists, expressed outrage, arguing that such phrasing seriously downplays the brutality of the killings.

“Pathetic that CNN acts like these hostages of Hamas died of old age. They were murdered,” wrote former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R).

“Hersh was not ‘found dead,’” wrote speechwriter Aviva Klompas. “He was a young man who was very much alive on October 7. Terrorists blew off his arm before abducting him and holding him hostage for over 300 days.”

“Hersh was murdered. Murdered,” she added. “Shame on every news outlet that doesn’t make that clear.”

“It’s real. This is CNN’s headline to an American hostage being executed by Hamas,” wrote conservative commentator Stephen L. Miller.

“Has died? He was horrifically injured on October 7 by Hamas terrorists who then took him hostage & *murdered* him,” wrote Australian commentator and columnist Rita Panahi.

“Journalism ‘has died,’” wrote one popular X account. “Hersh was murdered by gunshot to the head after being abducted from a music festival, having his arm blown off and held hostage by the psychopathic Hamas scum terrorists you all keep fangirling over for 11 months.”

“Murdered. Kidnapped. Kept hostage. Tortured. Murdered. By Hamas. A terrorist organization. Do your fucking job,” wrote journalist Eve Barlow.

“When Gazans die, the media goes out of its way to pretend they are all civilians deliberately killed (even when they are Hamas terrorists),” wrote investigative journalist David Collier. “When Hamas deliberately murder six innocent Israeli hostages much of the media reports it as if these people died by accident.”

“Go figure,” he added.

“I‘m seeing the biased coverage in the foreign media as if the 6 hostages were found dead in Gaza just like that… as if they simply died of old age or a serious illness,” wrote journalist Yoseph Haddad.

“They were murdered in cold blood by Hamas!!! They were helpless civilians executed after 11 months of torture and endless suffering in tunnels 20 meters underground!!!” he added. “Do not distort reality and do not minimize what happened to them.”

“No, @USATODAY, Hersh didn’t just die. He was murdered. By Hamas terrorists,” wrote media watchdog HonestReporting.

“When @CNN reports that someone ‘has died,’ it’s usually from old age or cancer,” wrote media contributor Joel Petlin. “Hersh was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by Hamas, and CNN can’t even be honest about that.”

“I can’t fathom the reason for a sanitized headline here, but CNN deserves to be despised for doing it,” he added.

“CNN’s false report on Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s death is a vile act of anti-Semitism & anti-Israel hate,” wrote the Israel Heritage Foundation (IHF), which was founded by Holocaust survivors to strengthen Israel’s sovereignty and battle antisemitism. “This deliberate lie reveals a callous disregard for Jewish life and perpetuates the same bigotry that led to his brutal murder.”

“CNN must apologize to the Jewish community worldwide and be held accountable for this hate speech,” the group added. “Silence is complicity.”

Though some headlines have since been corrected, the damage had already been done. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both affirmed the hostages were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists.

{Matzav.com}

Former President Donald Trump blamed “Comrade Kamala Harris” for what he called the “Hostage Crisis in Israel” on Sunday, in the wake of the murder of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin by Hamas, Breitbart reports.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “The Hostage Crisis in Israel is only taking place because Comrade Kamala Harris is weak and ineffective, and has no idea what she’s doing. I look forward to seeing her at the Debate! Biden failed, and now he spends his day on the beach, plotting and scheming how to take out his once Political Opponent, ME, who took him out both at the Debate, and otherwise. THE OCTOBER 7th ISRAELI CRISIS WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IF I WERE PRESIDENT”

Notably, Trump did not blame Harris specifically for the deaths of the hostages, but for the overall crisis.

Harris (like President Joe Biden) had tried to discourage Israel from entering Rafah, the town in Gaza where Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages were found dead in a Hamas tunnel on Saturday.

Biden issued a statement while on vacation in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, saying he had worked “tirelessly” for Hersh’s release and would continue to work “around the clock” for a hostage deal.

Critics speculated online that Israel might have rescued them if it had entered Rafah sooner.

Autopsies revealed that the hostages had been alive until very recently and had been shot in the head at some point in the previous 48 hours, likely to prevent Israeli soldiers from rescuing them.

Trump has long maintained that the October 7 attack and the war that followed would not have happened if he had still been president. There were no wars between Israel and its neighbors during his term from 2017 to 2021, and he negotiated the Abraham Accords peace agreement between Israel and several Arab states.

{Matzav.com}

A significant portion of Israelis believe that Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu should not seek another term and should step down before the next elections, according to a poll released by Channel 12 news on Friday.

The survey revealed that 69% of participants think Netanyahu should step aside when the next elections are held, while only 22% believe he should run for prime minister again. The remaining 9% were undecided.

This sentiment was echoed even among voters of the coalition parties, where 46% said Netanyahu should resign, while 43% supported his running in the upcoming elections.

Consistent with results from recent polls, Netanyahu was still viewed as a stronger candidate for prime minister than opposition leader Yair Lapid and National Unity leader Benny Gantz.

Netanyahu saw a slight increase in approval over Lapid, leading by 36% to Lapid’s 27%, a one-percent gain from a similar poll conducted last week. Meanwhile, one-third of those surveyed preferred another candidate, and 4% were unsure.

When pitted against Gantz, Netanyahu’s approval rating was only 1% higher, with 33% favoring him over Gantz’s 32%. Of the other respondents, 30% indicated they would choose a different candidate, and 5% were uncertain.

Interestingly, former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who is currently not active in politics, was the only figure in the poll who surpassed Netanyahu’s approval rating. Bennett received 38% approval, compared to Netanyahu’s 33%. Another 25% of respondents expressed a preference for someone else, and 4% were undecided.

The survey also gauged public opinion on the upcoming ceremonies commemorating the first anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

This issue has sparked controversy, particularly among families directly impacted by the October 7 tragedy, who have criticized the official state ceremony being organized by Transportation Minister Miri Regev. Regev dismissed the growing boycott and objections from Gaza border communities and families of the hostages as mere “noise.”

Respondents were asked which ceremony they felt was more appropriate – the official state ceremony or an alternative event organized by the families affected by the attack.

Only 18% of those surveyed felt the state ceremony was more appropriate, while 60% favored the families’ alternative ceremony. The rest were unsure.

In addition, 60% of respondents indicated they would not watch the state ceremony, which is being pre-recorded without a live audience and will be televised instead of livestreamed. Only 24% said they planned to watch it.

Meanwhile, with the school year set to begin on Sunday amid uncertainty due to the Teachers’ Union threatening a strike in high schools, the poll revealed widespread dissatisfaction with Education Minister Yoav Kisch.

When asked to evaluate Kisch’s performance, 59% of respondents rated it poorly, while 24% believed he was performing well.

Parents with school-aged children were also questioned about their overall satisfaction with the education system. A large majority, 74%, expressed dissatisfaction, while only 23% were satisfied.

{Matzav.com}

Governor Jared Polis (D-CO) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that Democrats including Vice President Kamala Harris “have always been supportive of building barriers and walls for certain parts of the border.”

Host Jon Karl said, “Another issue that didn’t come up in the CNN interview is her now apparent support for at least in some aspects, the border wall. I mean, we’ve seen in her ad, she uses images of the border wall. She says she’ll sign the Senate bill which provided $650 million for more border wall construction. She had called previously, the border wall a medieval vanity project, and a stupid use of money that she vowed to block. So what’s changed there?”

Polis said, “Look, this is another issue that as it gets into the public discourse is very misleading. Democrats in general, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, you know, Barack Obama, have always been supportive of building barriers and walls for certain parts of the border as part of a comprehensive border strategy.”

Karl said, “Wait a minute. She called the border wall a medieval vanity project, a stupid use of money and said that she would block funding for it. So she wasn’t talking about supporting.”

Polis said, “That’s true. The border wall that Donald Trump has proposed is a huge boondoggle waste of taxpayer money. He effectively talked about a wall across the entire border rather than using barriers of different kinds effectively in a cost effective manner including imagery from satellites, including on the ground intel to secure and lock down the border. What Kamala Harris is for is securing the most cost-effective way possible to stop the illegal flow of people, of guns, of drugs across that southern border. Of course, Donald Trump’s border wall would not work, would waste taxpayer money. Of course, barriers and walls are a part of the overall comprehensive strategy that Kamala Harris will deliver on to secure the southern border.”

{Matzav.com}

The United States is preparing to offer a final “take it or leave it” proposal for a ceasefire and hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas, according to a Washington Post report citing a senior official from President Biden’s administration. This deal was being formulated in collaboration with Egypt and Qatar before the discovery of the bodies of six young hostages, which has now cast doubt on Hamas’s seriousness in negotiations. Despite this grim development, the official stressed that it does not derail the process but rather adds urgency to concluding it. However, the discovery has complicated matters, necessitating a renegotiation of the lists of hostages and Palestinian prisoners involved in the exchange. The official confirmed that US intelligence agrees with Israel’s assessment that the hostages were executed by Hamas, which raises questions about the group’s commitment to the negotiations. With time running out, US officials will intensify their efforts over the next 48 hours to see if a deal can still be achieved. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Anthony Scaramucci claims that Melania Trump wants Kamala Harris to win the 2024 presidential election, and that she “hates” her husband. The former White House communications director recycled allegations that the former first lady is not keen on four more years in the White House.

“I judge hatred of Donald Trump by the Melania standard,” he said, adding that he could only think of one person (who he named as General Mark Milley, appointed by Trump as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2019) whose apparent hatred for the former president surpasses that of his wife.

Scaramucci’s hyperbolic claims come nearly two months after Melania Trump was last seen with her husband, having made a one-night-only cameo at the Republican National Convention in July. Scaramucci’s tenure in the Trump administration lasted a historic 11 days, amid a period of particular turnover and upheaval.

“The Mooch,” who has since left the GOP and supported President Biden’s campaign in 2020, has become a vocal critic of his former boss.

Read more at The Daily Mail.

At a rally in Tel Aviv, Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan Zangauker is among the hostages, spoke out: “Nadav is alive. My son is still alive. But every day is a Russian roulette. Netanyahu’s Russian roulette.”

She accused the prime minister of playing this dangerous game “until they’re all dead, [but] we won’t let him.” Zangauker pointed to the six murdered hostages, stating they were sacrificed “on the altar of Philadelphi [Corridor] spin,” referring to the strategic Gaza-Egypt border that Netanyahu insists Israel must maintain control over.

Addressing families who have recently lost loved ones, she offered her support: “You are not alone. The people of Israel embrace you. The blood of your loved ones won’t be in vain. We’ll do everything to get all the hostages home.”

Zangauker also criticized Netanyahu harshly, saying he has “put the hostages to the guillotine. He’s the hangman of Gaza Street,” a pointed reference to the street where Netanyahu’s residence is located in Yerushalayim.

She expressed the scale of her anger, claiming that “The history books will not have sufficient space to record the magnitude” of the disaster Netanyahu has caused. She declared, “Your time is up,” adding, “I, Einav Zangauker, a Likudnik from Ofakim, tell you it’s over.”

Zangauker ended her speech with a call to action: “This is the time to act. To shake the nation until there is a deal. Go to the streets, people of Israel. Go to the streets!”

{Matzav.com Israel}

Senator Lindsey Graham called on President Biden and Israel to take decisive action against Iran after the brutal killing of six hostages by Hamas, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Graham expressed his heartbreak over the deaths and condemned Hamas, describing the group as “barbaric, religious Nazis” who “couldn’t care less about the hostages or the Palestinians.” Graham urged the Biden administration to hold Iran accountable, asserting that Iran is the driving force behind Hamas. “If you want the hostages home, which we all do, you have to increase the cost to Iran,” he said. He also suggested targeting Iranian oil refineries if the remaining hostages are not released. Graham also criticized Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing her of undermining U.S. foreign policy. He argued that her decision to boycott Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress sent a signal to Hamas and Iran that “America really doesn’t have Israel’s back.” Graham labeled Harris a “wrecking ball” on foreign policy, pointing to her involvement in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and her handling of border security as key failures. “She’s been a wrecking ball on foreign policy,” Graham said. “It’s been the most incompetent administration I can remember on things that matter to the American people, your safety and your prosperity.” Graham also addressed a reported incident at Arlington National Cemetery, where former President Trump participated in a wreath-laying ceremony honoring the 13 U.S. service members killed in the 2021 ISIS-K bombing during the Biden administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal. He stressed that the deaths were a result of the administration’s incompetence, which he believes has led to a rise in terrorism and the loss of U.S. deterrence on the global stage. “Nobody in the world is afraid of Kamala Harris,” Graham added. “If you want to avoid more dead Americans, vote for Trump.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu spoke today with Oxana and Grigory Lobanov, the parents of Alexander Lobanov, who was tragically killed while being held captive by Hamas.

The Prime Minister expressed his deep sorrow and apologized to the family for Israel’s inability to rescue Alexander and the other five hostages alive.

During the call, Prime Minister Netanyahu told Alexander Lobanov’s parents, “I would like to tell you how much I regret and request forgiveness for not succeeding in bringing Sasha back alive.”

It was disclosed during the conversation that the Prime Minister’s Military Secretary, Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman, had returned this morning from Moscow, where he had been working to advance the hostage negotiations and had discussed the case of Alexander Lobanov and the other hostages.

Throughout the day, Prime Minister Netanyahu has been, and will continue to be, in contact with additional families.

Last night, the IDF recovered the bodies of Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Master-Sergeant Ori Danino from Rafah.

IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari stated this morning, “A few hours ago, we informed the families that the bodies of their loved ones had been located by IDF troops in an underground tunnel in Rafah. According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them.”

An Israeli source mentioned this morning that three of the hostages whose bodies were retrieved by the IDF had been on the list of those whom Hamas had agreed to release in the proposed deal from early July.

{Matzav.com Israel}

Russian air defenses intercepted and destroyed 158 Ukrainian drones overnight, including two over Moscow and nine over the surrounding region, the Defense Ministry said Sunday. Forty-six of the drones were over the Kursk region, where Ukraine has sent its forces in recent weeks in the largest incursion on Russian soil since World War II. A further 34 were shot over the Bryansk region, 28 over the Voronezh region, and 14 over the Belgorod region — all of which border Ukraine. Drones were also shot down deeper into Russia, including one each in the Tver region, northwest of Moscow, and the Ivanovo region, northeast of the Russian capital. Russia’s Defense Ministry said drones were intercepted over 15 regions, while one other governor said a drone was shot down over his region, too. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that falling debris from one of the two drones shot down over the city caused a fire at an oil refinery. Ukrainian drone strikes have brought the fight far from the front line into the heart of Russia. Since the beginning of the year, Ukraine has stepped up aerial assaults on Russian soil, targeting refineries and oil terminals to slow down the Kremlin’s assault. Also in Russia, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said 11 people were wounded in Ukrainian aerial missile attacks in the Russian border region of Belgorod on Sunday. These included eight in the regional capital, also called Belgorod. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday it had taken control of the towns of Pivnichne and Vyimka, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. The Associated Press could not independently verify the claim. Russian forces have been driving deeper into the partly occupied eastern region, the total capture of which is one of the Kremlin’s primary ambitions. Russia’s army is closing in on Pokrovsk, a critical logistics hub for the Ukrainian defense in the area. At least three people were killed and nine wounded on Sunday in Russian shelling in the town of Kurakhove, some 20 miles (33 kilometers) south of Pokrovsk, Donetsk regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin said. Also on Sunday, 44 people were wounded when Russia attacked the Kharkiv regional capital, also called Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. The city was struck by 10 missiles, with a shopping center, a sports facility and residential buildings among those damaged. Elsewhere in Ukraine overnight, eight drones were shot down out of 11 launched by Russia, according to the Ukrainian air force. One person was killed and four wounded in shelling overnight in the Sumy region, local officials said, while Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said five other people had been wounded in his region. (AP)

The six hostages whose bodies were recovered on Motzoei Shabbos had been brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists, who shot them multiple times at close range, the Health Ministry reported on Sunday.

Forensic experts from the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv determined that the six victims were likely killed between 48 and 72 hours before the examination, which means the killings took place on Thursday or in the early hours of Friday.

On Motzoei Shabbos, the IDF and ISA successfully located and retrieved the bodies of Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Master Sergeant Ori Danino from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip, bringing them back to Israel.

These six individuals had been taken hostage on October 7th, 2023, and were killed by Hamas in the days leading up to their discovery. Their remains were found approximately 20 meters underground, in a location that had not been previously identified by intelligence sources. The bodies were discovered about a kilometer away from the tunnel where hostage Farhan al-Qadi was rescued last week.

The bodies of the six hostages, found and returned on Motzoei Shabbos, bore gunshot wounds to the head and other parts of the body, with no signs of torture observed.

{Matzav.com Israel}

Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform on Sunday, reacting to the murder of six hostages at the hands of Hamas who were found in a tunnel beneath Rafah, in southern Gaza – including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The murders, Trump said, “happened because Comrade Kamala Harris and Crooked Joe Biden are poor Leaders. Americans are getting slaughtered overseas… They have blood on their hands! Sadly, this is the total lack of ‘Leadership’ that Kamala and Biden represent.” He added: “Our Country and our amazing people are not safe under Joe Biden, and will be less safe under Kamala Harris. This terror would have never happened if I were President, and it will stop the day I am back in the Oval Office.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Animal lovers—and, perhaps, intelligence officials—are mourning the loss of Hvaldimir, a beluga whale and alleged “Russian spy” who was found dead Saturday in the waters off Risavika, a port city in southwest Norway.

In an obituary piece, the New York Times spoke with Mark Strand, the founder of Marine Mind, a non-profit focused on the whale’s welfare and broader advocacy for marine life.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Strand told the Times. “He’s touched thousands of people’s hearts just here in Norway.” Hvaldimir first made headlines in 2019 when he was discovered swimming in Norwegian waters. Upon closer inspection, he appeared to have been strapped with a harness holding a camera mount labeled as “‘equipment’ from St. Petersburg”—hence the spy theory, although the country has never claimed the whale as one of its operatives. (It’s not porpoise-terous to believe the country might’ve employed the whale for reconnaissance. As NPR once reported, Russia has previously used dolphins to patrol a naval base.)

Hvaldimir was well-known for his good-natured demeanor, like in this September 2019 YouTube video where he playfully stole a traveler’s GoPro. His comfort around humans led Strand to believe the 2,700-pound marine mammal had been “in captivity for a lot of his life.” Or, perhaps, spy school. Read more at The New York Times.

Brenda Abdelall, an Egyptian-American lawyer recently appointed by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign to lead its Arab-American outreach, is facing criticism for comments she made in 2002 about Zionist influence in American politics. The remarks, made while Abdelall was a college student attending a convention for the American Muslim Council, resurfaced in a Washington Free Beacon article on Friday. During the convention, one speaker claimed, “Zionists are destroying America.” In response, Abdelall was quoted by The New York Sun as saying, “Destroying is a harsh word,” but added, “The Zionists have a strong voice in American politics. I would say they’re controlling a lot of it.” She referenced the then-recent electoral defeat of U.S. Rep. Earl Hilliard, who had voted against a resolution supporting Israel, attributing his loss to significant support from pro-Israel groups for his opponent. The Harris campaign quickly responded to the report, saying, “Those 2002 comments do not reflect Brenda’s views or the views of the campaign.” The campaign highlighted Abdelall’s subsequent career, noting her work as a lawyer and her role at the Department of Homeland Security, where she became chief of staff for the department’s civil rights office. A campaign spokesperson emphasized that Abdelall played a key role in implementing the country’s first National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and organizing a White House summit against hate-fueled violence. Abdelall herself has not issued a statement regarding the resurfaced comments. The scrutiny comes at a critical time for Harris’s campaign. Votes from Muslim and Arab Americans could prove decisive in battleground states like Michigan, where Abdelall grew up. The Arab-American community in Michigan, numbering around 100,000, has become a focal point due to concerns that some voters who supported President Joe Biden in 2020 may withhold their support in protest against the administration’s stance on Israel’s actions in Gaza. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board on Sunday were at the scene of a bus crash in Mississippi that killed seven people and injured dozens of others. They plan to look at how well the tires were maintained, NTSB member Todd Inman said at a news conference late Saturday. The NTSB previously said the crash was caused by tire failure. The 2018 Volvo bus was traveling westbound on Interstate 20 near Bovina in Warren County early Saturday morning when it left the roadway and overturned, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol. No other vehicle was involved. Six people aboard were pronounced dead at the scene and another died at a hospital, according to a highway patrol news release. Thirty-six people were taken by ambulance to hospitals. The highway patrol did not immediately have an update on their conditions Sunday. The dead included a 6-year-old boy and his 16-year-old sister, according to Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey. They were identified by their mother. Authorities were working to identify the other victims, he said. The bus was traveling from Atlanta to Dallas with 41 passengers and two drivers, the highway patrol said. Inman said the NTSB will also look at the carrier’s safety record and protections for bus occupants. The bus was operated by Autobuses Regiomontanos. A woman who answered the phone at its Laredo, Texas, office said it was aware of the crash, but she didn’t answer questions or provide her name. The transit company says it has 20 years of experience providing cross-border trips between 100 destinations in Mexico and the U.S. Its website promotes “a modern fleet of buses that receive daily maintenance,” and offers “trips with a special price for workers.” (AP)

On Sunday morning, over two million children began their new school year, while half a million remained at home because their classrooms were closed due to a teachers’ strike.

Despite intense, last-minute discussions between the Education Ministry and the Secondary Schools Teachers Association on Saturday night, a resolution to the ongoing wage and contract dispute could not be reached. This impasse led the union to follow through on their planned strike, which they had officially declared on Thursday.

The Education Ministry confirmed to The Times of Israel on Sunday that “around half a million students from 10th to 12th grade” were impacted by the strike.

According to ministry data, 514,000 students are enrolled in high schools for the upcoming school year, and 335,000 are in middle schools. In total, the education system serves 2,558,000 children, which includes 535,000 kids in kindergarten and state-run daycare facilities. There are 1.174 million children registered for elementary school.

As schools reopened on Sunday morning, approximately 179,300 children entered first grade. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, 144,000 students are registered for their final year in 12th grade.

The ministry also reported that 526,000 students are enrolled in the state-run ultra-Orthodox education system, and 530,000 are part of the Arabic track. In all, the education system encompasses 5,743 schools, 22,000 kindergartens, and 5,533 daycare centers, with a budget of NIS 83.6 billion ($23 billion) for the 2024-25 school year.

The teachers’ strike primarily affected grades 10-12 across the nation, although special education institutions were exempt. In some schools, 9th-grade classes were also disrupted, depending on the decisions of the school principals.

The strike did not affect certain regions in the north and south of the country due to the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip and escalating violence with Hezbollah in Lebanon. The threat of rocket fire from Gaza remains, while Hezbollah has been conducting near-daily rocket and drone assaults since October, when the war began following Hamas’s devastating attack on Israel.

The teachers union announced that there would be no strike in areas including Merhavim, Ofakim, Netivot, Ein Habesor, Sha’ar Hanegev, Shikma, and Sderot in the south, as well as Majdal Shams, Kabir, and Nofei Golan in the north.

In the northern regions, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and local security teams provided protection at school bus pickup locations and within the schools themselves.

The IDF also expanded the coverage of its air defense units to safeguard the routes used by school buses. Typically, air defense systems only respond to incoming threats if they are likely to strike urban areas.

Additionally, authorities have installed more small public bomb shelters in the north. However, Kan, a public broadcaster, reported that many parents are still hesitant to send their children to school, feeling that these measures are insufficient.

Meanwhile, about 17,000 school-aged children are among the tens of thousands of people displaced from their homes near the Lebanese border. These students will continue to attend local schools or temporary institutions near the locations where they have been living since October, whether in rented apartments, hotels, or relatives’ homes.

The teachers’ union has been in ongoing talks with the education and finance ministries, pushing for retroactive salary increases and other benefits that were agreed upon before the last school year but were postponed due to Hamas’s attack and the outbreak of war.

A central issue in the negotiations is the union’s demand for a collective wage agreement, while the government favors individual contracts for teachers due to budgetary constraints.

Despite efforts to reach a deal on Shabbos, no progress was made.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has pledged not to pay striking teachers, though Kan reported that the union has millions of shekels in a compensation fund that could be used to pay the striking educators. However, sources from the Education Ministry estimate that these funds would only last for a few days.

Strikes over wage disputes that delay the start of the school year have become a recurring issue in Israel.

Last year, high school teachers and government officials reached a last-minute agreement to increase salaries, narrowly avoiding a strike that would have delayed the start of classes.

However, the government later failed to honor those agreements, attributing the breach to budget cuts necessitated by the war.

In the 2024 budget, millions of shekels were cut from government ministries, including NIS 38,283,000 ($10.3 million) from the Education Ministry in July, to reallocate funds for residents displaced from the south and north due to the war.

{Matzav.com Israel}