Japan’s Emperor Naruhito paid respects to atomic bombing victims in Hiroshima as the city marks the 80th anniversary of the tragedy later this year. Naruhito, accompanied by his wife, Empress Masako, bowed deeply at the cenotaph for the atomic bombing victims and offered bouquets of white flowers. The atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroyed the city, killing 140,000 people. A second bomb dropped three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century aggression in Asia. Naruhito has repeatedly stressed the importance to remember and keep telling the tragedy of the war to younger generations. Naruhito and Masako were also to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum to observe exhibits, including those featuring Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots organization awarded last year’s Nobel Peace Prize. The couple were to meet atomic bombing survivors, or hibakusha, and those born after the war and trained to tell the stories on behalf of those who can no longer do so. Naruhito is making his third trip to mourn the war dead this year. In April, the couple visited Iwo Jima to pay tribute to about 20,000 Japanese and nearly 7,000 U.S. Marines killed in the Battle of Iwo Jima, fought from Feb. 19 to March 26, 1945. Earlier this month, Naruhito also visited Okinawa to mourn about 188,000 Japanese, half of them Okinawan civilians, and about 12,000 Americans, killed in the Battle of Okinawa. Naruhito accompanied his daughter, Princess Aiko, underscoring his wish that she would learn the hardships of the Okinawan people and share their stories with younger generations. (AP)
UPDATE: Following the sirens that were heard moments ago in northern Israel, MDA has not received any reports of rocket impacts or injuries — except for one woman who was injured while making her way to a protected area. Around 10 missiles were fired at Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met this morning with National Unity Party Chairman MK Benny Gantz and Yisrael Beitenu Chairman MK Avigdor Liberman, for a security update.
The IDF Home Front Command confirmed that Iran launched a ballistic missile with a cluster bomb warhead targeting central Israel, which split at approximately 7 kilometers altitude, dispersing around 20 smaller munitions across an 8km radius. An Israeli military official noted that while the threat may be broader than Iran’s other ballistic missile warheads, the cluster bombs’ explosions are significantly smaller.
In recent days, Israeli Air Force aircraft identified multiple attempts by Iran’s security forces to rebuild missile launch and storage sites in western Iran that had previously been destroyed in IDF strikes. The IAF responded by targeting and destroying engineering equipment at the scene and eliminating dozens of Iranian military personnel operating in the area.
If you think President Trump is laser focused on the war with Iran… think again. This post from President Trump was posted minutes ago. Just Trump being Trump!
The IDF releases footage showing its strike this morning on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor. The reactor was only partially built, and Iran had informed the IAEA that it planned to begin operating the facility next year. The military says the strike “targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development.”
MOVING FOOTAGE: Man sits on piano in his destroyed home playing ה’ יתברך תמיד אוהב אותי ותמיד יהיה לי רק טוב ויהיה לי עוד יותר טוב ועוד יותר טוב ועוד יותר טוב…
A short while ago, approximately 20 IAF fighter jets completed a series of intelligence-based strikes in western Iran. In all of the strikes, surface-to-surface missile infrastructure sites and soldiers in Iran’s military forces were struck. In addition, the IAF identified the movement of trucks carrying surface-to-surface missiles. The trucks were struck when they arrived at the launch sites.
RECAP: A total of 147 people were injured, six seriously, at missile impact sites in Holon, Ramat Gan and Be’er Sheva. One of the missiles struck Soroka Hospital. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange was seriously damaged in a missile strike as well.
Global sales of personal luxury goods are ”slowing down but not collapsing,” according to a Bain & Co. consultancy study released Thursday. Personal luxury goods sales that eroded to 364 billion euros ($419 billion) in 2024 are projected to slide by another 2% to 5% this year, the study said, citing threats of U.S. tariffs and geopolitical tensions triggering economic slowdowns. “Still, to be positive in a difficult moment — with three wars, economies slowing down, inequality at a maximum ever — it’s not a market in collapse,’’ said Bain partner and co-author of the study Claudia D’Arpizio. “It is slowing down but not collapsing.” Alongside external headwinds, luxury brands have alienated consumers with an ongoing creativity crisis and sharp price increases, Bain said. Buyers have also been turned off by recent investigations in Italy that revealed that sweatshop conditions in subcontractors making luxury handbags. Sales are slipping sharply in powerhouse markets the United States and China, the study showed. In the U.S., market volatility due to tariffs has discouraged consumer confidence. China has recorded six quarters of contraction on low consumer confidence. The Middle East, Latin America and Southeast Asia are recording growth. Europe is mostly flat, the study showed. This has created a sharp divergence between brands that continue with strong creative and earnings growth, such as the Prada Group, which posted a 13% first-quarter jump in revenue to 1.34 billion euros, and brands like Gucci, where revenue was down 24% to 1.6 billion euros in the same period. Gucci owner Kering last week hired Italian automotive executive Luca De Meo, the former CEO of Renault, to mount a turnaround. The decision comes as three of its brands — Gucci, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta — are launching new creative directors. Kering’s stock surged 12% on news of the appointment. D’Arpizio underlined his track record, returning French carmaker Renault to profitability and previous roles as marketing director at Volkswagen and Fiat. “All of these factors resonate well together in a market like luxury when you are in a phase where growth is still the name of the game, but you also need to make the company more nimble in terms of costs, and turn around some of the brands,’’ she said. Brands are also making changes to minimize the impact of possible U.S. tariffs. These include shipping directly from production sites and not warehouses and reducing stock in stores. With aesthetic changes afoot “stuffing the channels doesn’t make a lot of sense,’’ D’Arpizio said. Still, many of the headwinds buffering the sector are out of companies’ control. “Many of these (negative) aspects are not going to change soon. What can change is more clarity on the tariffs, but I don’t think we will stop the wars or the political instability in a few months,’’ she said, adding that luxury consumer confidence is tied more closely to stock market trends than geopolitics. President of Italian luxury brand association Altagamma Matteo Lunelli underlined hat the sector recorded overall growth of 28% from 2019-2024, “placing us well above pre-pandemic levels.” While luxury spending is sensitive to global turmoil, it is historically quick to rebound, powered by new markets and pent-up demand. The 2008-2009 financial crisis plummeted sales of luxury apparel, handbags and footwear from 161 billion euros to 147 billion euros over […]
Taglit-Birthright has informed Shomer Shabbos participants of their most recent trip now stranded in Israel that they will not necessarily be offered assistance unless they agree to evacuate on Shabbos. The message came to light through a desperate plea from a young woman currently in Israel on a Birthright program. After she and several friends extended their trip and found themselves stuck following widespread flight cancellations, they reached out to Birthright for help getting home. Birthright’s answer? Get on the evacuation boat leaving on Shabbos—or figure it out yourselves. “We are trying to get back home and when reaching out to Birthright, they put us on an evacuation boat that will be over Shabbat,” the woman told YWN. “We asked our rabbis and they said we are not allowed to break Shabbat for this, and we really do not want to be traveling on Shabbat, even to go back to America.” But when the group asked for an alternative that would not require them to violate halacha, Birthright refused. “The Birthright reps who have organized this boat have made it clear that the boat is not for shomer Shabbos individuals,” she said. “If you don’t go on the boat, Birthright is not guaranteeing to ensure that people who are on their current Taglit will be helped by them to be evacuated from Israel.” In other words: Either violate Shabbos, or you’re on your own. The implications are staggering. Birthright, whose stated mission is “to ensure a vibrant future of the Jewish people by strengthening Jewish identity,” is offering aid only on condition that participants abandon the very mitzvos that define their Jewish identity. It’s a cruel irony. The same program that organizes visits to the Kosel and touts its role in connecting young Jews to their heritage is now punishing those who take that heritage seriously. These are not simply tourists on vacation. These are young men and women who traveled to Israel to volunteer, to serve, and to connect more deeply with their Jewish roots. Now, in their moment of need, they are being told that their halachic observance disqualifies them from assistance. No alternate arrangements. No effort to respect religious observance. Just a blunt ultimatum: travel on Shabbos, or be left behind. At a time when global Jewry is calling for unity, when Jewish identity is under siege around the world, Birthright is drawing a line in the sand—not between Jew and non-Jew, but between religious and non-religious Jews. And the message is clear: if you won’t be mechalel Shabbos, you don’t matter. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Russia’s economy is “on the brink of going into a recession,” the country’s economy minister said Thursday, according to Russian media reports. Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov delivered the warning at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the annual event in Russia’s second largest city designed to highlight the country’s economic prowess and court foreign investors. Russian business news outlet RBC quoted the official as saying “the numbers indicate cooling, but all our numbers are (like) a rearview mirror. Judging by the way businesses currently feel and the indicators, we are already, it seems to me, on the brink of going into a recession.” Russia’s economy, hit with a slew of sanctions after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, has so far outperformed predictions. High defense spending has propelled growth and kept unemployment low despite fueling inflation. At the same time, wages have gone up to keep pace with inflation, leaving many workers better off. Large recruiting bonuses for military enlistees and death benefits for those killed in Ukraine also have put more income into the country’s poorer regions. But over the long term, inflation and a lack of foreign investments remain threats to the economy, leaving a question mark over how long the militarized economy can keep going. Economists have warned of mounting pressure on the economy and the likelihood it would stagnate due to lack of investment in sectors other than the military. Speaking at one of the sessions of the forum in St. Petersburg, Reshetnikov said Russia was “on the brink,” and whether the country would slide into a recession or not depends on the government’s actions. “Going forward, it all depends on our decisions,” Reshetnikov said, according to RBC. RBC reported Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Central Bank Gov. Elvira Nabiullina gave more optimistic assessments. Siluanov spoke about the economy “cooling” but noted that after any cooling “the summer always comes,” RBC reported. Nabiullina said Russia’s economy was merely “coming out of overheating,” according to RBC. (AP)
A SpaceX rocket being tested in Texas exploded Wednesday night, sending a dramatic fireball high into the sky. The company said the Starship “experienced a major anomaly” at about 11 p.m. while on the test stand preparing for the tenth flight test at Starbase, SpaceX’s launch site at the southern tip of Texas. “A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for,” SpaceX said in a statement on the social platform X. CEO Elon Musk ’s SpaceX said there were no hazards to nearby communities. It asked people not to try to approach the site. The company said it is working with local officials to respond to the explosion. (AP)
A piece of missile shrapnel as big as a bus fell in the Shomron following Iran’s launch of a missile barrage on Thursday morning. This is not the first time that a huge shrapnel part fell in the Shomron. Over 100 shrapnel parts have fallen in the area since the beginning of the war, some of them huge. Yossi Dagan, the head of the Shomron Regional Council, slammed the Defense Ministry following the incident, saying that tens of thousands of residents of Yehudah and Shomron lack adequate protection and many homes and even buildings lack bomb shelters. “Tens of thousands of people in Yehudah and Shomron, which has become Israel’s missile target zone, lack protection,” he said. “Every night, interceptor shrapnel falls on homes, yards, and vehicles. We expect the government, in these difficult times, to approve the construction of public shelters as required and as has been done throughout the country. I call on the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister to approve an emergency plan for funding protective buildings in new settlements, and to approve a fortification plan program for the residents of the area, who are a frontline for all intents and purposes.” “Residents of the Shomron, who are on the frontline against both Palestinian Authority and Iranian terrorism, remain exposed without basic protection. Those living five kilometers from the Palestinian Authority are just as much a frontline as those living five kilometers from the northern or southern border. If the security establishment defines Yehudah and Shomron as a front, it is clear to any reasonable person that the residents are part of the front.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
An Iranian missile fired in the heavy Iranian barrage on Thursday morning hit a residential building in Holon, injuring dozens and causing heavy damage to property. A shul in the city was damaged from the impact. Passers-by rushed to help the gabbai remove the sifrei Torah to a safe place. Holon Mayor Shai Keinan said that the residents who were forced to evacuate the building will be housed in hotels. “The residents were evacuated to a family center at the Gordon School, where social workers and psychologists were waiting for them along with food and drinks. Everything is organized like an army. We are already set with hotels in advance.” Gil Karnei, a resident of Holon, told Yisrael Hayom: “We were in the safe room and I heard a huge explosion. The house shook. When I went out I arrived here at the scene of the impact sites. Two four-story buildings, old buildings, about 40-50 years old, took a direct hit. One building looks half destroyed; the second building is also destroyed. The whole area is a huge environmental disaster. Residents tried to escape from there. And the whole area was strewn with huge pieces of shrapnel in a radius of 200-300 meters.” Amit, who lives with his parents in the building that was hit in Holon, said, “I live on the fourth floor. We were in the shelter and suddenly we heard a strong boom and then suddenly smoke started to enter the shelter. We opened the door and saw that everything was destroyed, the elevator everything – and there were a lot of stones on the floor. We didn’t see our apartment but they told us it was completely destroyed. There was also a gas leak, and forces arrived straight away and quickly got us out of the building.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
