General Motors announced Wednesday that it will integrate Google’s Gemini AI into its vehicles and debut a Cadillac Escalade capable of “eyes-off” driving by 2028. At the “GM Forward” event, the automaker said Gemini will let drivers “talk to your car as naturally as a passenger,” while the Escalade will build on GM’s 600,000 miles of hands-free “Super Cruise” roads, which have had no crash reports. The electric SUV will also feature a computing platform updating all major systems, from propulsion to infotainment. GM shares rose 0.5% Wednesday, after a nearly 15% jump Tuesday following strong third-quarter results.
Hagaon HaRav Dov Landau dancing with philanthropist Reb Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz at the Chasunah of his daughter tonight in Los Angeles. Dozens of Roshei Yeshiva and Rabbonim from around the globe are in attendance.
North Korea said Thursday that its latest missile tests involved a new hypersonic system aimed at strengthening its nuclear war deterrent, as leader Kim Jong Un continues to build up weapons designed to overwhelm South Korea defenses. The report by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency came a day after South Korea’s military said it detected the North firing multiple missiles from an area south of the capital, Pyongyang, and said they flew about 350 kilometers (217 miles) northeast before falling on land. The tests came days before world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, are expected to gather in rival South Korea for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings. The U.S. Forces Korea said in a statement that it was “fully aware” of North Korea’s ballistic launches and also its “relentless pursuit of long-range missile capabilities.” It urged the North to refrain from “unlawful and destabilizing actions” in violation of U.N. Security Council sanctions, adding that the U.S. commitment to its alliance with Seoul remains “ironclad.” KCNA said the launches involved two hypersonic projectiles that accurately struck a land target in the country’s northern region. It described the system as strategic, implying that the missiles were designed to be armed with nuclear warheads. KCNA didn’t specify the name of the missile system it tested. At a military parade earlier this month, Kim unveiled some of his military’s newest weapons, including what appeared to be a short-range ballistic system fitted with hypersonic glide vehicles. North Korea in recent years has been testing various missile systems tipped with hypersonic weapons, which are designed to fly at more than five times the speed of sound. The speed and maneuverability of such weapons are meant to help them evade regional missile defense systems, but experts have questioned whether they have consistently flown at the speeds the North claimed during tests. Pak Jong Chon, one of Kim’s top military officials who attended Wednesday’s tests, lauded the performance of the “new cutting-edge weapon system” and said the North would continue efforts to bolster its war deterrent and defense capabilities. During the Oct. 10 parade, Kim also unveiled a new intercontinental ballistic missile that state media described as the country’s most powerful nuclear asset, adding to his growing collection of weapons with potential range to reach the U.S. mainland. Experts say the North could be preparing to test the missile in the coming weeks, ahead of a major ruling party conference in early 2026, when Kim is expected to announce key policy directions, potentially including his approach toward the United States. Kim has been sharply accelerating the pace of weapons tests since his high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with Trump fell apart in 2019 due to wrangling over the U.S.-led economic sanctions. Wednesday’s launches were North Korea’s first ballistic missile tests since liberal South Korean President Lee Jae Myung took office in June, pledging to restore peace on the Korean Peninsula. But Kim has so far rejected Lee’s offer for talks and has said he won’t resume diplomacy with the United States unless Washington abandons its goal of denuclearizing the North. (AP)
Tesla is recalling 13,000 vehicles in the U.S. due to a battery pack defect that could cause a sudden loss of drive power, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday. The issue affects certain 2025 Model 3 and 2026 Model Y cars and could prevent drivers from accelerating, raising the risk of a crash. Tesla will reportedly replace the faulty battery pack contactor free of charge.
New York City’s mayoral candidates clashed bitterly during their final debate Wednesday evening, as Democrat Zohran Mamdani tried to maintain his lead and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa cast him as out of his league. While Mamdani began the debate accusing his rivals of being too consumed by fighting — suggesting he would instead focus on his vision for New Yorkers — the state assemblyman repeatedly ended up in the mud with his rivals. Mamdani’s opponents have spent much of the race criticizing the 34-year-old democratic socialist for his relatively thin political resume, his pro-Palestinian advocacy, and President Donald Trump’s threats to take over the city — and even arrest him — if he wins. Cuomo, who is now running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, has spent recent days urging Sliwa to drop his bid, and has been courting conservatives and moderates, casting himself as a more viable candidate than Sliwa. But Sliwa, the swaggering creator of the Guardian Angels crime patrol group, has forcefully maintained he will not exit the race and has in turn ramped up his criticism of the former governor. Here are some key takeaways from the debate: Barbs all around Mamdani entered the debate saying he would try to stay above the fray and keep his focus on voters and issues — like affordability — that have defined his campaign. But the Democratic nominee landed plenty of digs against his rivals, whom he accused of spending more time calling on each other to drop out “than actually proposing their own policies.” Cuomo and Sliwa, he said, “speak only in the past because that is all they know.” “I am the sole candidate running with a vision for the future of this city,” he went on, calling Cuomo “a desperate man, lashing out because he knows that the one thing he cares about, power, is slipping away from him.” Cuomo, meanwhile, touted his experience, and portrayed Mamdani as out of his league. “It’s Bill de Blasio rehash and we know how that turned out,” he said. “I did things. You have never had a job. You’ve never accomplished anything,” he said, insisting Mamdani lacks the merit and qualifications to run the nation’s biggest city or handle an emergency. “Shame on you!” Sliwa accused both men of “fighting like kids in a school yard,” but piled on as well. “Zorhan, your resume could fit on a cocktail napkin. And, Andrew, your failures could fill a public school library in New York City,” he quipped. He also made frequent references to Cuomo’s decision to resign as governor amid a barrage of sexual harassment allegations, which Cuomo denies. Canal Street raid Candidates were asked within minutes about an immigration enforcement sweep targeting vendors on Manhattan’s famed Canal Street that led to 14 arrests. Cuomo responded by touting his squabbles with Trump during the Republican’s first term. Cuomo said the city does not need Immigration and Customs Enforcement to handle quality-of-life crimes like dealing in counterfeit bags. Mamdani similarly pledged to oppose federal interventions in the city, saying “ICE is a reckless entity that cares little for the law and even less for the people that they’re supposed to serve.” The Trump factor Trump again took center stage, as each of the candidates insisted that they would […]
In an interview with YWN following the shocking arrest of a Ateres Shlomo talmid on Wednesday morning, Harav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin shlit”a decried the ongoing persecution of bnei Torah in Eretz Yisroel, comparing the situation to the dark days of Soviet oppression. “I came to America to do a job that isn’t easy — to take care of bochurim,” Rav Sorotzkin said. “We have 13,500 talmidim across our mosdos, and every one of them is precious. When I heard this morning that they arrested a choshuve bochur in the yeshiva — an emesdike masmid, whose only ‘crime’ was sitting and learning Torah — I was shaken. We heard such stories from our fathers and grandfathers in Russia, when people were arrested for learning. Now it’s happening again, in Eretz Yisroel.” The bochur, named Ariel Shammai, was sentenced to 20 days in military prison. “He was handed a 20-day prison sentence for one thing,” Rav Sorotzkin said sharply. “For being an oved Hashem and learning Torah.” Following the arrest, a massive atzeres tefillah was held outside the prison Wednesday afternoon. Over 1,200 bnei Torah gathered to show support and solidarity with the imprisoned talmid. The gathering doubled as a psichas zman for the yeshiva, led by Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlit”a. “It was a big maamad of kiddush sheim shamayim in a mechubadike way,” said Rav Sorotzkin. “We began Chezkas Habatim there. It gave the bochur chizuk — he saw that Klal Yisroel is with him.” Rav Sorotzkin said that he will be cutting short his trip to America – he had come to fundraise for his massive network of yeshivos – and returning immediately to Eretz Yisroel to take responsibility for the bochur and advocate on his behalf. “I have no breirah,” he said. “I am going straight back to Eretz Yisroel. We have an achrayus for this bochur.” Rav Sorotzkin urged Jews worldwide to be marbitz in tefillah. “We must daven to Hashem: Kra ro’ah gzar dineinu. Klal Yisroel areivim zeh lazeh — we all have an achrayus for one another. The tzarah in Eretz Yisroel is a tzarah for every ben Torah around the world.” He added that fear is spreading among bnei yeshiva. “Many don’t understand that every bochur nowadays is afraid that he could be arrested at any moment. This cannot continue.” The arrest of Ariel Shammai followed a series of shocking overnight raids by military police targeting yeshiva bochurim who have refused army enlistment on religious grounds. In one case, police stormed a home in Ramat Gan at 1:30 a.m. and dragged away a bochur who was in the midst of sitting shiva for his father. The young man’s mother — a disabled almanah — and six orphaned siblings cried out helplessly as he was taken away. After widespread outrage, he was released hours later through the intervention of attorney Shlomo Haddad. Two other bnei yeshiva were arrested the same night — both now facing prison time. Military police also raided homes in Adam, overturning furniture in a failed attempt to arrest two more talmidim, and attempted an arrest in Neve Yaakov, which was thwarted after hundreds of protesters gathered and forced the police to retreat. In response to the arrests, Degel HaTorah convened an emergency meeting of its Knesset members, while Peleg Yerushalmi leaders […]
Several conservative news outlets said Wednesday they had agreed to a new press policy rejected by virtually all legacy media organizations and will take their place in the Pentagon to cover Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the U.S. military. The new Pentagon press corps will include the Gateway Pundit, the National Pulse, Human Events, podcaster Tim Pool, the Just the News website founded by journalist John Solomon, Frontlines by Turning Point USA and LindellTV, run by “MyPillow” CEO Mike Lindell. The Pentagon’s announcement came less than a week after dozens of reporters from outlets like The New York Times, The Associated Press, CNN and the Washington Post turned in their access badges rather than agree to a policy the journalists say will restrict them to covering news approved by Hegseth. Hegseth’s spokesman, Sean Parnell, announced the “next generation” of the Pentagon press corps with more than 60 journalists who had agreed to the new policy. He said 26 journalists who had previously been part of the press corps were among the signees. The department wouldn’t say who any of them were, but several outlets reposted his message on X saying they had signed on. There isn’t even unanimity among organizations that appeal to conservative consumers. Fox News Channel, by far the most popular news source for fans of President Donald Trump, was among the walkouts, as was Newsmax. Accusations of ‘self-righteous media’ In a post on X, Parnell denounced the “self-righteous media who chose to self-deport from the Pentagon.” “Americans have largely abandoned digesting their news through the lens of activists who masquerade as journalists in the mainstream media,” Parnell wrote. “We look forward to beginning a fresh relationship with members of the new Pentagon press corps.” The journalists who left the Pentagon haven’t stopped working covering the U.S. military. Many have been reporting aggressively, for example, on stories about strikes against boats in central America alleged to be part of the drug trade. By not being in the Pentagon, “reporters will have to work harder, there’s no question about it,” said Barbara Starr, a longtime Pentagon reporter retired from CNN. “But the real price is paid by the American people and the American military families,” Starr said. “Military families who have their sons and daughters serving, they want to know everything and they want to know it fast.” Starr wondered about Hegseth: “What is he so afraid of?” New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote a biting piece about the defense secretary over the weekend titled “Fraidy-Cat at the Pentagon.” But Hegseth’s boss, President Trump, has expressed support for the new media policy and Hegseth’s aggressive moves mirror some of those made by the administration. The president has sued outlets like The New York Times and Wall Street Journal for their coverage of him. New outlets must add staff Some of the outlets that accepted Hegseth’s rules will have to staff up for their new roles: Just the News, for example, posted an ad online seeking a Pentagon reporter. The Gateway Pundit’s White House correspondent, Jordan Conradson, posted on Wednesday that he was excited to join the Pentagon press corps “and help restore honest journalism after agreeing to follow basic rules … something the legacy media refuses to do!” Lindell, whose My Pillow ads once blanketed Fox News before he joined the political media, posted a statement that LindellTV was “proud to be part […]
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) delivered a grim warning Tuesday night about what he called a “growing cancer” of antisemitism emerging on the American right — a rare public rebuke from one of the GOP’s most prominent conservatives. Speaking at Hagee Ministries’ 45th annual Night to Honor Israel in San Antonio, Cruz said that while antisemitism had long taken root on the political left, he now sees an alarming rise among conservatives. “In the last six months, I have seen antisemitism rising on the right in a way I have never seen in my entire life,” Cruz said to a packed audience. “This poison of antisemitism on the right — it is spreading with young people. It is gaining traction.” The Texas senator, a longtime ally of Israel, said that when he met recently with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he warned that online hate was no longer just “AstroTurf” from foreign governments but “organic — real people, real voices.” Cruz cited examples of right-wing figures who have downplayed Adolf Hitler’s crimes, calling them “the embodiment of evil,” and denounced the spread of “replacement theology” among some young Christians — the belief that the Christian church has replaced the Jewish people. “They are being taught lies — theological lies,” Cruz said. “The promises God made to Israel are still good. They are still valid.” Cruz’s comments come amid intensifying debates within the Republican Party over support for Israel and rising antisemitic rhetoric online. In recent months, he has clashed with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, both of whom have been criticized for remarks sympathetic to anti-Israel sentiment. “The church is asleep right now,” Cruz told the audience, urging faith leaders to confront the issue directly. “If we don’t root this out, it will rot the moral core of the right — and of America itself.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Led by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, Democrats seized the Senate floor on Wednesday to protest President Donald Trump’s presidency amid the government shutdown and push for Republicans to negotiate with them on expiring health subsidies. Merkley spoke for more than 22 hours — from 6:21 p.m. Tuesday to 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday — pausing for lengthy questions from other Democratic senators. His speech was one of the longest in Senate history, just short of a similar speech in April by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey. Booker, who was also protesting Trump, broke the record for longest continuous Senate speech by going for more than 25 hours, surpassing a 1957 speech by Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. Thurmond was filibustering the advance of the Civil Rights Act. The senator’s talk-a-thon came as Democrats have forced the government shutdown over their demands to extend government health care subsidies, and as Republicans have refused to negotiate over the expiring tax credits until Democrats vote to reopen the government. Democrats have voted 12 times to keep it closed — most recently Wednesday evening — and the two sides have made little progress toward a resolution. Merkley said on the Senate floor that Republicans were the ones shutting down the government “to continue the strategy of slashing Americans’ health care” after passing cuts to Medicaid and other programs over the summer. He used several hours of his speech to describe what he said were Trump’s authoritarian moves, including attacks on the press and policies that Democrats say are enriching billionaires at the expense of regular people. He said that Trump’s plan is to replace a government “by and for the people with a government by and for the powerful.” As he wrapped up his speech, Merkley said that authoritarianism “is not around the corner,” but “here right now.” Merkley gave another lengthy floor speech in 2017, speaking for more than 15 hours to protest Trump’s then-nomination of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. Like Booker, Merkley’s speech was not a filibuster, which is meant to halt or delay the advance of a specific piece of legislation. By holding the floor open overnight, Merkley forced Senate floor staff, security and other support workers who are currently unpaid to work overtime hours. The government has been shut down since Oct. 1. “The Democrats are going to make Capitol Police and Capitol support staff — who they refuse to pay — work all night so they can give speeches patting themselves on the back for shutting down the government and hurting the American people,” Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Senate Republican, posted on X Tuesday night. “How ridiculous is that?” Immediately after Merkley’s speech, Barrasso mocked the Democratic senator and called his speech “rubbish.” Merkley appeared tired for much of the day, saying in the early afternoon that he was “starting to feel a little dazed” and later that “my stamina is getting a little shaky.” But he kept going until early evening. He said afterward that he was able to keep going, without a bathroom break or any food, because of “dehydration” and not eating beforehand. At around 2:45 a.m., only a few hours in, Merkley paused to untie his shoelace. He said standing in one place had “made my shoes a little tight.” […]
Yeshiva Tiferes Yisroel (Chofetz Chaim) on East 35 Street in Flatbush released the attached statement tonight. Sources tell Flatbush Scoop that a rumor has recently spread that the Yeshiva was being sold or closing. Those rumors are not true.
Freed twin hostages Gali and Ziv Berman put on tefillin on Wednesday during a visit by Ba’al Chessed Shai Graucher and U.S. donors, including Rabbi Moshe Scheiner of the Palm Beach Synagogue. It was the first time that Ziv had put on tefillin since his bar mitzvah. Gali said that he had put on tefillin at Chabad houses while traveling abroad. Those present at the meeting joyfully danced together to the tune of Am Yisrael Chai. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Less than two weeks before New York City voters head to the polls, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is warning that antisemitic incidents across the five boroughs have reached “deeply concerning” levels, heightening pressure on mayoral candidates to address a growing crisis of hate crimes and public safety. In a report released Wednesday, the ADL said hundreds of incidents of harassment, vandalism, and physical violence against Jews have already been documented in 2025 — continuing the record highs seen last year, when New York led the nation with 976 antisemitic cases, more than any other state. “The scope of antisemitic activity in New York this year is deeply concerning,” said Scott Richman, the ADL’s New York and New Jersey regional director. “Antisemitism is no longer hiding — it’s out in the open, and it’s making Jews in New York feel unsafe in one of the world’s most significant centers of Jewish life.” Preliminary 2025 data shows antisemitic activity spreading across all five boroughs, with Orthodox Jews disproportionately targeted. Though they represent about 20 percent of New York’s Jewish population, they accounted for more than half of all physical assaults last year. In one February weekend alone, three separate attacks occurred within 48 hours; in June, a Shabbat observer was beaten unconscious while his assailant shouted about Gaza. Attacks on Jewish institutions remain high as well. In 2024, 157 incidents targeted synagogues and community centers, and this year’s numbers are on track to match or exceed that figure. Among the most chilling cases: a man who claimed to be “the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler” and another who allegedly plotted a “massacre” at a Brooklyn religious site (it wasn’t specified where). The ADL’s Center on Extremism attributed much of the rise to escalating anti-Israel extremism. In 2022, just 5 percent of antisemitic incidents were related to Israel; by 2024, that figure had surged to 58 percent, a trend continuing this year. Demonstrations across the city have featured chants such as “Burn Tel Aviv to the ground” and banners calling to “globalize the intifada.” On college campuses — particularly at Columbia University, which recorded 53 incidents last year, the highest in the nation — Jewish students have reported vandalism of prayer spaces and fliers urging classmates to “crush Zionism.” With a crucial mayoral debate scheduled Wednesday night, the ADL is urging moderators to press candidates on concrete steps to confront the surge. “Right now, the Jewish community needs every elected official to stand up and speak out,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. “We need leaders who will treat this as the crisis it is, not a political afterthought.” Greenblatt warned that rhetoric isn’t enough: “What we are seeing in New York is simply shocking. The time for statements has passed — the Jewish community deserves action.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
More than 650 Reform and Conservative “rabbis” from across the United States have signed an open letter warning against the rise of anti-Zionism in American politics — and singling out New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as a troubling example. In the statement, titled “A Rabbinic Call to Action: Defending the Jewish Future,” they write, “We cannot remain silent in the face of rising anti-Zionism and its political normalization throughout our nation.” The letter condemns Mamdani’s defense of the slogan “Globalize the Intifada” — which he has since said he would “discourage” — along with his refusal to affirm Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and repeated accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. “We will not accept a culture that treats Jewish self-determination as a negotiable ideal,” the letter says, calling on Americans “to stand up for candidates who reject antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric.” The statement, organized by the Jewish Majority advocacy group, carries the signatures of several of New York’s most Jewish “leaders”, including Rabbi Joshua Davidson of Temple Emanu-El, Rabbi David Gelfand of Temple Israel of the City of New York, Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz of Kehilath Jeshurun, and Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, president of the New York Board of Rabbis. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Russia has test-fired a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile as part of a nuclear exercise. The missile is capable of striking targets more than 11,000 kilometers away.
Zohran Mamdani criticized Andrew Cuomo during the New York mayoral debate, calling him “Donald Trump’s puppet” and claiming Trump endorsed Cuomo for his own benefit, not for New Yorkers.
President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Wednesday new “massive sanctions” against Russia’s oil industry that are aimed at moving Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and bringing an end to Moscow’s brutal war on Ukraine. The sanctions against oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil followed months of calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as bipartisan pressure on Trump to hit Russia with harder sanctions on its oil industry, the economic engine that has allowed Russia to continue to execute the grinding conflict even as it finds itself largely internationally isolated. “Hopefully he’ll become reasonable,” Trump said of Putin not long after the Treasury Department announced the sanctions against Russia’s two biggest oil companies and their subsidiaries. “And hopefully Zelenskyy will be reasonable, too. You know, it takes two to tango, as they say.” The U.S. administration announced the sanctions as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was in Washington for talks with Trump. The military alliance has been coordinating deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, many of them purchased from the United States by Canada and European countries. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the new sanctions were a direct response to Moscow’s refusal to end its “senseless war” and an attempt to choke off “the Kremlin’s war machine.” Bessent added that the Treasury Department was prepared to take further action if necessary to support Trump’s effort to end the war. “We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions.” The announcement came after Russian drones and missiles blasted sites across Ukraine, killing at least six people, including a woman and her two young daughters. The attack came in waves from Tuesday night into Wednesday and targeted at least eight Ukrainian cities, as well as a village in the region of the capital, Kyiv, where a strike set fire to a house in which the mother and her 6-month-old and 12-year-old daughters were staying, regional head Mykola Kalashnyk said. At least 29 people, including five children, were wounded in Kyiv, which appeared to be the main target, authorities said. Russian drones also hit a kindergarten in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, later Wednesday when children were in the building, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. One person was killed and six were hurt, but no children were physically harmed, he said. Rutte, in his Oval Office appearance, went out of his way to underscore that the weaponry the U.S. is selling Europe to provide to Ukraine has been essential to helping stop many attacks like the one that ravaged the kindergarten. “We need to make sure that the air defense systems are in place, and we need the U.S. systems to do that, and the Europeans are paying for that,” Rutte said. “It is exactly the type of actions we needed, and the President is doing that and trying everything to get this work done.” Zelenskyy said many of the children were in shock. He said the attack targeted 10 separate regions: Kyiv, Odesa, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Cherkasy and Sumy. Peace efforts stall Trump’s efforts to end the war that started with Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor more than three years ago have failed to gain traction. Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with Putin’s refusal to budge from his conditions for a settlement after Ukraine offered a ceasefire and direct peace talks. Trump said Tuesday that his plan for a swift meeting […]
