A report in the Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed claims that Israel has agreed to release several of the most notorious terrorists held in its prisons — including senior Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine chief Ahmad Sa’adat, and Hamas commanders Ibrahim Hamed and Hassan Salameh — as part of a deal to secure the release of Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza. All four are serving multiple life sentences for orchestrating deadly terror attacks that claimed dozens of Israeli lives, primarily during the Second Intifada. The report further alleges that Israel has agreed to free around 250 senior terror convicts as part of the deal. However, Israeli media say there is significant uncertainty regarding the exact list of prisoners being discussed — and whether any of these arch-terrorists will actually be released. Barghouti, in particular, is viewed as a potential political rival to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, raising additional concern in Jerusalem over the implications of his possible release. Channel 12 News in Israel, however, reported Sunday that both Barghouti and Hamed will not be released, contradicting the Qatari report. Israeli officials have not yet issued an official comment on the matter. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
A month after the horrific terror attack at the Ramot Junction that claimed the life of Rabbi Yisrael HaKohen Metzner Hy”d, his Almanah has given birth to a baby boy — a moment of joy intertwined with deep sorrow for the grieving family. The newborn joins his three older brothers, though he will never have the chance to meet his father. Rabbi Metzner, a respected Avreich in the Maysharim Kollel, was murdered on his way to Kollel during the Elul terror attack at the Ramot Junction. Rabbi Metzner Hy”d was among the prominent scholars in his kollel and the son-in-law of HaGaon HaRav Chaim Greineman, Rosh Kollel Taharos in Jerusalem. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo says he wants to save Rikers Island, the notorious jail complex that has become a symbol of dysfunction in the city’s criminal justice system. The city is legally required to shutter its jails on Rikers and replace them with four smaller, more modern jails by 2027 under a plan approved by the City Council six years ago. Officials at the time wanted Rikers gone for several reasons: It is crumbling, costly, plagued by violence and far from the courthouses where its inmates need to be transported regularly. But the replacement project has stalled, swelled in cost and faces local opposition. Only one of the four new jails, in Brooklyn, is under construction. Cuomo, the former New York governor who is running for mayor as an independent, said Wednesday that he would scrap the plan to replace Rikers and would rebuild it instead. “We can and must do both things at once: Close Rikers as we know it, and rebuild it the right way,” Cuomo said. Cuomo said he would rebuild the jails at Rikers one at a time so operations can continue. He said the land where the replacement neighborhood jails were going to be built would be turned into affordable housing or mixed-use developments. “The deadlines have already slipped years past, costs have doubled, and neighborhoods are being forced to shoulder the burden of government at its worst. Now is the time to admit the mistake before we dig any deeper,” he said. The Democratic Party’s mayoral nominee, Zohran Mamdani, told reporters Wednesday that abandoning the plan to close Rikers would be a bad idea. “Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to take that which is broken, that which is morally bankrupt, that which is a stain on our city and to keep it open, it’s a betrayal not only of the law as it stands today, but also of what New Yorkers actually want,” Mamdani said. Built on an island in the East River, Rikers Island has been featured on television’s “Law & Order” and other crime shows and has housed high-profile inmates, including Harvey Weinstein. The facility had come under intense scrutiny over inmate deaths and allegations of neglect, leading to heavy federal oversight. The incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, has also questioned whether closing Rikers is the solution to its problems and urged the City Council to find an alternative as it became increasingly likely that the city would miss its deadline. Adams is not running for reelection. The Republican nominee for mayor, Curtis Sliwa, has said he would not allow Rikers Island to close and has called for its jails to be renovated. In a statement Wednesday, Jonathan Lippman, a former chief state judge who chairs a commission that studies Rikers, said the jail “must be closed as soon as humanly possible.” He added that more than 70 people held at Rikers have died since the start of 2020 and that the city spends more than $2.8 billion annually to operate the facility. “Rebuilding on Rikers is highly problematic, fiscally flawed, and at variance with the law and the present advanced state of contracting, moneys invested, and preparatory work already undertaken to build four new more humane local jails in the city,” Lippman said. (AP)
Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in a case his lawyer described as a vindictive prosecution directed by President Donald Trump.
Air traffic control shortages add to U.S. flight delays • The government shutdown is exacerbating concerns about the strain on air traffic controllers, a shortage of whom has vexed airline executives for years. • A shortfall of already-thin air traffic control staffing this week had prompted the FAA to slow or halt arrivals in Burbank, California, and Nashville, Tennessee, among others. • About 10,000 flights were delayed on Monday and Tuesday, but disruptions dropped on Wednesday to just more than 1,900.
Senate again rejects funding bills as government shutdown enters second week • The Senate again rejected dueling Republican and Democratic funding proposals to end the government shutdown. • The dueling stopgap measures had already failed to pass in five previous votes. • Democrats want any funding bill to include health-care protections, especially an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at year’s end.
POTUS: “Iran was about one month, maybe two months away from having a nuclear weapon, and if I allowed that to happen, this deal would not have been possible — or if it was, it would have a tremendous cloud over it… it’s a very much different Iran.”
WATCH: U.S. attorney announces the arrest of 29 year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht for allegedly starting the blaze that lead to the devastating Palisades fire in California. Officials say the suspect used AI to create images depicting a burning forest and crowds fleeing.
“It should shock every American.” Senator Ron Johnson calls out “major corruption” as he responds to accusations that Jack Smith tracked private calls, communications of nearly a dozen Republican senators.
Trump on historic Gaza Peace Deal: “It has really been an amazing period of time — and so great for Israel, so great for Muslims, for the Arab countries, and so great for this country… in that we could be involved in making a deal like this happen.”
