The FBI is warning Americans not to respond to scam road toll collection texts after receiving more than 2,000 complaints this month. The texts impersonating state road toll collection agencies attempt to get phone users to reveal financial information, such as credit or debit cards or bank accounts. They’re so-called smishing scams — a form of phishing that relies on SMS texts to trick people into sending money or share sensitive information. The FBI says the texts are moving from state to state and use nearly identical language falsely claiming that recipients have an unpaid or outstanding toll that could result in fines or suspended driving privileges. The FBI is asking those who receive the scams to file a complaint with its IC3 internet crime complaint center, www.ic3.gov, and to also delete the texts. Cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks said last week that a threat actor has registered over 10,000 domains for the scams. The scams are impersonating toll services and package delivery services in at least 10 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Ontario. While Apple bans links in iPhone messages received from unknown senders, the scam attempts to bypass that protection by inviting users to reply with “Y” and reopen the text. (AP)
The White House withdrew the nomination of former Florida congressman Dr. David Weldon to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because he wasn’t assured of getting enough Republican support to be confirmed. The Republican-controlled Senate health committee announced Thursday morning that it was canceling a planned hearing on Weldon’s nomination — less than an hour before it was scheduled to begin. A person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the White House pulled the nomination because it became clear Weldon did not have the votes for confirmation. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican and committee member, told reporters she had relayed her concerns about Weldon’s vaccine skepticism both to him directly and to the White House. Two other Republicans who have voiced concerns about the administration’s direction on vaccines, Sens. Bill Cassidy and Susan Collins, said they had not decided whether to support or oppose his confirmation. Weldon was considered to be closely aligned with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. health secretary who for years has been one of the nation’s leading anti-vaccine activists. Weldon, 71, is an Army veteran and internal medicine doctor whose main claim to fame was representing a central Florida district in Congress from 1995 to 2009. He was a leader of a Congressional push for research into autism’s causes, which began around 2000. But Weldon rejected studies that found no causal link between childhood vaccines and autism, and accused the CDC of short-circuiting research that might show otherwise. Sen. Patty Murray, who is also on the health committee, said she had serious concerns about Weldon after meeting with him. “I was deeply disturbed to hear Dr. Weldon repeat debunked claims about vaccines,” the Washington Democrat said in a statement. “It’s dangerous to put someone in charge at CDC who believes the lie that our rigorously tested childhood vaccine schedule is somehow exposing kids to toxic levels of mercury or causing autism.” With a $9.2 billion core budget, the Atlanta-based CDC is charged with protecting Americans from outbreaks and other public health threats. For decades it enjoyed a sterling reputation as a global leader on disease control and a reliable source of health information, boasting some of the top experts in the world. But the agency came under attack during the COVID-19 pandemic, repeatedly faulted for how it handled communications, masking guidance and others aspects of its pandemic response. This week, the chair of the Senate health committee and other Republican leaders launched a working group to examine potential legislative reforms for the agency, which has been swept up in the government-wide job-cutting push led by the president and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk. Weldon was to be the first CDC director nominee to have to go through Senate confirmation — the result of a provision in a law passed during the Biden administration. The agency’s 20 previous directors were all appointed. He becomes the third Trump administration nominee who didn’t make it to a confirmation hearing. Previously, former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration for attorney general and Chad Chronister for the Drug Enforcement Administration. Susan Monarez has been the CDC’s acting director since late January and is poised to stay on at the agency after a director is confirmed. Two […]
This year, more than ever before, with the current difficult matzav for acheinu b’nei yisroel in general and B’nei Torah in particular, there is just so much negativity worldwide. We now have a unique opportunity to portray a beautiful and positive message about our simchas Purim. The zechus of the special simcha emanating from torah learning on the Yom tov of Simcha should encapsulate your life with all the brochos of Simcha! Fifteen years ago on Purim night a mini-revolution happened that addresses this issue. A group of very special Baalei Battim sponsored 23 bochurim from Yeshiva Torah Temimah in Brooklyn, NY to sit and learn for two hours on Purim night. Each bochur received a $250 credit to a tzedokah of his choice. The bais hamedrash boomed with kol torah and this certainly was the ultimate in Kimu V’kiblu of the simchas hatorah. For Habochur Hanechmod Yeshayahu Dov Eckstein A”H it would be his last Purim. That year he came home with such simcha – he had learned with such ‘geshmak’ on Purim night, and through this unique learning program his group collected over $3,500. Every year, l’ilui nishmoso the family continues this beautiful program. It has been an amazing success. Last year there were over 250 bochurim and yungerleit who were committed to learn TWO hours on Purim by night in the bais hamedrash. Success breeds success, and many Roshei Yeshivos have called to emulate this program in their own yeshivas across the country and around the world. Each year we are B”H adding more bochurim and yungerlite. Many more Bochurim and Kollel Yungerlite have been calling again to continue this program this year. We must not say ‘No’… We need your assistance to continue… This year we have been presented with many new opportunities in both Eretz Yisroel and Lakewood. PLEASE help to support this beautiful program and sponsor a bochur learning Purim night, by clicking on the following link: https://www.rayze.it/purimlearning/ With your kind donation, you will be creating DOUBLE zechus. 1) The money will go to bona fide Tzedokah 2) A bochur will learn in your zechus TWO hours on Purim by night.
There were 127,350 measles cases reported in Europe and Central Asia in 2024, double the number of cases reported the previous year and the highest number since 1997, according to an analysis by the World Health Organization and UNICEF. In a report published on Thursday, U.N. health experts said Romania had the most measles infections, at more than 30,000, followed by Kazakhstan, which reported 28,147 people with measles. UNICEF said that about 40% of measles infections in Europe and Central Asia were in children under 5 and that more than half of all people sickened by measles had to be hospitalized. Measles is among the world’s most infectious diseases and is spread by an airborne virus. Two doses of the measles vaccine is estimated to be 97% effective in preventing the disease, which typically infects the respiratory system and causes symptoms including fever, cough, runny nose and a rash. In serious cases, measles can cause pneumonia, encephalitis, dehydration and blindness. “Measles is back, and it’s a wake-up call,” Dr. Han Kluge, WHO’s Europe director, said in a statement. “Without high vaccination rates, there is no health security.” WHO and UNICEF noted that in both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, fewer than 70% and 50% of children in those countries respectively have been vaccinated against measles for at least the past five years. Scientists estimate that more than 95% of the population needs to be immunized to prevent outbreaks. After a drop in immunization coverage during the coronavirus pandemic, measles cases surged in 2023 and 2024, with vaccination rates in numerous countries still lower than what they were before COVID-19 hit. The U.N. said the number of measles cases across Europe made up one third of the approximately 359,521 infections last year. Concerns about the safety of the measles vaccine have persisted for decades, after British physician Dr. Andrew Wakefield and colleagues published a paper in 1998 — which has long since been retracted — linking the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism. No evidence for any causal link has ever been found and Wakefield had his license to practise medicine in the U.K. revoked. British officials said last month there have been more than 200 reported cases in the U.K. and that many more are expected. “It’s never too late to get vaccinated,” said Ben Kaastan-Dabush, an assistant professor in global health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who warned that misinformation can unfortunately travel rapidly. “Even a small decline in vaccine uptake can have devastating consequences.” In the U.S., measles outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico are continuing to spread and are now up to 250 cases, including two deaths in people who weren’t vaccinated. (AP)
President Donald Trump’s hostage envoy Adam Boehler has been removed from talks regarding the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, The Jewish Insider reported. The report cited Republican sources who said that some are demanding that he be removed entirely from the Trump administration. “It’s like he’s in Never Never Land,” one senator said. Boehler faced a strong backlash following his interviews with CNN and other US and Israeli media outlets on Sunday, during which he defended his direct talks with the Hamas terror group. Boehler not only spoke directly with Hamas but made extremely controversial statements, saying that the Hamas terrorists he met “don’t have horns growing out of their head. They’re actually guys like us. They’re pretty nice guys.” He added he “doesn’t care” what the Israelis think and that the US is “not an agent of Israel.” He also referred to Palestinian prisoners as “hostages.” Boehler was ordered by the White House to “clarify his remarks” after Israel sent sharply worded messages to the US regarding his controversial statements. He posted a clarification on social media, stating: “I want to be CRYSTAL CLEAR as some have misinterpreted. Hamas is a terrorist organization that has murdered thousands of innocent people. They are BY DEFINITION BAD people. And as President Trump has said, not a single Hamas member will be safe if Hamas doesn’t RELEASE ALL HOSTAGES IMMEDIATELY.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
A bigger space, a bigger vision, and an even bigger impact—Swingit has officially moved into its brand-new headquarters in Howell, NJ, marking an exciting milestone in the company’s growth. To celebrate, a grand opening and ribbon-cutting event brought together local officials, community leaders, and longtime supporters. Among the special guests were Senator Robert Singer, Assemblyman Avi Schnall, Monmouth and Ocean County officials, Howell Township representatives, and members of local Parks & Rec departments, along with Sam Ellenbogen, candidate for Ocean County Commissioner. Their presence underscored the deep connection between Swingit and the communities it serves. As demand for premier swingsets has grown, so has the need for more space. This stunning new space, designed by HH Designers, provides exactly that—more room to innovate, more opportunities to welcome customers, and more ways to design playgrounds that bring people together. It’s also just the beginning—this is the first of many offices Swingit plans to open across the Tri-State area. Along with Proscapes, their sister company that specializes in commercial playgrounds, the future of play is looking fun indeed for children across the United States. With the move complete and the doors officially open, customers are invited to stop by 4501 US-9, Howell Township, NJ, to meet with a designer and see firsthand how Swingit brings play to life. See play come alive: swingitplaysets.com and proscapes.us
Fiery Purim Meshulash In Israel: Heat Wave Conditions In Most Of The Country: The weather in Israel has been unusually warm this week, with temperatures rising to above seasonal averages on Wednesday. The temperatures are expected to continue to rise on Thursday, with hot and dry conditions. There will be another slight rise on Friday, Purim day, and Shabbos. The temperature will continue to climb on Sunday, Shushan Purim, with heatwave conditions in the mountains and inland areas.
WATCH AND ENJOY! Renowned Chazan Nissim Saal, known for his once-in-a-generation voice, wows us again as he does each year, with a new “Aseres Bnei Haman” for Purim!
President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey. The European tariff, which was unveiled in response to steel and aluminum tariffs by the U.S. administration, was expected to go into effect on April 1. But Trump, in a morning social media post, vowed a new escalation in his trade war if the EU pushes ahead with the planned 50% tariff on American whiskey. “If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES,” Trump wrote. “This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S.” The Republican president on Wednesday had signaled that he intended to take the action. “Of course I will respond,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office exchange with reporters. Trump, in announcing the new steel and aluminum tariffs on Wednesday, openly challenged U.S. allies and vowed to take back wealth “stolen” by other countries, and he drew quick retaliation. He has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging “reciprocal” rates starting on April 2. The EU announced its own countermeasures. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that as the United States was “applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros,” or about $28 billion. Those measures cover not just steel and aluminum products but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods. European Commission spokesman Olof Gill said Thursday shortly before Trump’s announcement that the EU was “prepared for whatever might come, and we have been preparing for over a year.” “We call on the U.S. to immediately revoke the tariffs imposed yesterday, and we want to negotiate to avoid tariffs in the future,” Gill added. “They bring nothing but lose-lose outcomes, and we want to focus on win-win outcomes.” U.S. bourbon makers, meanwhile, urged Trump to back off his trade war. “The US-EU spirits sector is the model for fair and reciprocal trade, having zero-for-zero tariffs since 1997,” Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council, said in a statement. “We urge President Trump to secure a spirits agreement with the EU to get us back to zero-for-zero tariffs, which will create U.S. jobs and increase manufacturing and exports for the American hospitality sector. We want toasts not tariffs.” (AP)
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: “What we’re trying to do is create economic certainty. We’re going to do it with the tax plan. We’re going to do it with deregulation.”
*WATCH:* IDF Soldier asks children not to light firecrackers in Israel this year. He says every time a soldier hears an explosion, it triggers post-traumatic symptoms and reminds him of fighting inside Gaza. He also says: ” Not all soldiers will admit this, so please share this video message as widely as possible.”
Immigrants kept the largest urban counties in the U.S. growing last year. Core counties in the Houston, Miami and Phoenix metropolitan areas grew more than any others in the country primarily because of people moving in from outside the United States, according to population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday. Without the international migration, Harris County, Texas, Miami-Dade County, Florida, and Maricopa County, Arizona, would have had nobody moving there last year. That’s because more people already living in the country moved out of than into those counties. Miami-Dade County would have lost population without the immigrants, since the number of births outpacing deaths wasn’t enough to overcome the tens of thousands of residents who moved out. Immigration in 2024 drove the overall U.S. population growth to its fastest rate in 23 years as the nation surpassed 340 million residents. The Census Bureau changed how it counted immigrants last year by including more people who were admitted to the U.S. for humanitarian, and often temporary, reasons. “A substantial excess of births over deaths has long been the primary driver of U.S. population growth, but as this surplus dwindled in the last four years immigration provided the bulk of the nation’s population increase,” Kenneth Johnson, a senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire, said in an email. Domestic vs. international migrants The 2024 estimates reflect a continued dissonance this decade between where current U.S. residents and immigrants choose to live. Immigrants last year moved to the urban cores of metro areas, while those already living in the country preferred counties in the far suburban reaches of metro areas. The most popular counties for international migrants last year were Miami-Dade and Harris counties, followed by Los Angeles County and Cook County, Illinois, which is home to Chicago. The most popular counties for domestic residents last year were Montgomery County, Texas, north of Houston; Pinal County, Arizona, southwest of Phoenix; and Pasco County, Florida, northeast of Tampa. Also at the top ranks were Polk County, Florida, located between Orlando and Tampa, and Collin County, Texas, in the far northern suburbs of metro Dallas. New York is on the rebound When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. in 2020, the New York metro area and others with some of the densest populations in the U.S. lost tens of thousands of residents to relocation. But the region has been on the rebound since the pandemic subsided. The New York metro area — the largest in the U.S. with 19.9 million people — added more people than any other metropolitan area in the country last year. As 147,000 residents moved out, nearly 288,000 immigrants moved in, including tens of thousands who arrived on buses provided by the state of Texas. San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are other metro areas that have gained population through international migration, after initially losing them during the pandemic. The New York metro area also had the nation’s largest natural growth last year, with nearly 214,000 births outpacing 141,000 deaths. South Florida last year jumped two spots over metro Washington and metro Atlanta to become the sixth most populous metropolitan area in the United States. Metropolitan Charlotte, North Carolina, bypassed metro Baltimore for the 21st spot. Among counties, Tarrant County, Texas, home to Fort Worth, leapfrogged over San Bernardino County in South California as the nation’s 15th most populous […]
Vaccines could be a key means of suppressing bird flu and avoiding the slaughter of millions of chickens, which is blamed for egg prices averaging nearly $6 a dozen. But the move has been delayed in part because of concerns it could jeopardize chicken exports worth billions of dollars a year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced plans to spend $100 million to study bird flu vaccines to fight the disease in concert with meat chicken, egg and turkey groups. That’s part of a larger $1 billion effort to invest in more protections to keep the virus off farms that President Donald Trump believes will help lower egg prices. Chicken meat producers remain the most resistant to vaccines because of concerns they could harm meat exports, which totaled nearly $4.7 billion last year. Egg and turkey producers sell most of their products in the U.S. and have been hit hardest by the virus. Why is a vaccine needed? Without a new policy including vaccines, the government will continue to slaughter every flock with a bird flu infection to limit the spread of the disease. Those deaths have totaled over 166 million birds in the U.S. since 2022. Most birds killed are egg-laying chickens, and the death of so many hens is the main reason egg prices keep rising. The average price per dozen has hit $5.90, and in some part of the country, it is far higher. Poultry veterinarian Simon Shane, who runs www.Egg-News.com, said the government is hesitant to use vaccines and change its policy of killing birds largely because of the meat chicken industry’s opposition. “Basically this is a political issue, and this only came to a head because eggs are at $8 to $9 a dozen, and it’s embarrassing the government — embarrassing the present administration,” Shane said. Why doesn’t the US use a bird flu vaccine? Before using vaccinations, the government must decide how to devise an effective system and monitor for outbreaks within vaccinated flocks that might not show any symptoms, said John Clifford, the USDA’s former longtime chief veterinary officer, who now works with a poultry industry export group. Once that is figured out, the industry can negotiate with countries to minimize trade problems. “What the industry wants is the ability to develop the strategic plan to share that with the trading partners and then find out what kind of impact that that will have on trade,” Clifford said. There are fears that vaccinating could allow the virus to linger undetected in flocks and mutate in ways that could make it more of a threat to humans and allow sick birds to get into the food supply. Like with other diseases, properly cooking chicken to 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius) will kill bird flu, but the industry and chicken buyers don’t want it there at all. For meat chicken, known as broilers, the virus isn’t as significant because those birds are slaughtered at 6 to 8 weeks old and thus have less chance of being infected compared with egg-laying hens, which live to 2 years or older. Also most broilers are raised in the Southeast, which hasn’t had as many outbreaks as the Midwest and West. Another delay to vaccinating concerns distribution. Egg farmers want to administer it through chicken feed or water, saying it’s not practical to give shots to millions of […]
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda again called on the United States to deploy nuclear weapons to Poland as a deterrent to Russia, the latest indication that the frontline NATO nation is increasingly considering nuclear protection as fears of Russia grow. Duda made his appeal in an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday, repeating an appeal he made to the Biden administration in 2022. Duda’s adviser for international affairs, Wojciech Kolarski, followed up on Duda’s appeal with an interview on Poland’s RMF FM radio Thursday morning in which he argued that nuclear protection would improve security for Poland, a NATO member along the alliance’s eastern flank that shares borders with Ukraine, Belarus and the Russian territory of Kaliningrad. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Duda’s, said last week that Poland was in talks with France concerning President’s Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to use France’s nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats. Moscow called that idea “extremely confrontational.” Tusk made his comment to parliament after Macron said he has decided to open a “strategic debate” on using France’s nuclear deterrent to protect European allies amid concerns over potential U.S. disengagement. The French president described Moscow as a “threat to France and Europe” in a televised address to the nation. France is the only nuclear power in the European Union. (AP)
The Israeli Air Force attacked an Islamic Jihad terror command center in Damascus at noon on Thursday. The target of the attack were Islamic Jihad commanders who were planning attacks against IDF forces on the northern border and in the buffer zone. Defense Minister Yisrael Katz confirmed the attack. “There will be no immunity for Islamic terror against Israel, not in Damascus and not anywhere else,” he said. “Wherever terrorist activity is organized against Israel, the leader of radical Islam, Al-Julani, will find the Air Force planes hovering over him and attacking terrorist targets. We will not allow Syria to become a threat to the State of Israel.” This past Monday, Air Force fighter jets attacked dozens of military targets from the Assad regime in southern Syria. According to the IDF Spokesperson’s announcement, the targets included radars and intelligence means, headquarters and storage sites for weapons and military equipment. The attack was carried out by 22 fighter jets that launched over 60 munitions. The attacks this week follow a series of IDF attacks in Syria since the overthrow of the Assad regime last December. The IDF targeted the Assad regime’s military assets, partially to prevent the establishment of Palestinian terrorist elements in the country under the new jihadi regime. According to a Ynet report, the IDF has also carried out attacks in recent weeks on several weapons warehouses belonging to Palestinian terror elements. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
