Yeshiva World News

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited Magen David Adom headquarters in Ramla and donates blood.

Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi has issued a fatwa calling on Muslims worldwide to kill Trump and Netanyahu, labeling them “enemies of God.”

JUST IN: Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina says he will not seek reelection after President Trump called for a primary challenge to him over his opposition to the “Big, Beautiful Bill.”

Mamdani says we shouldn’t have billionaires. This guy is going to destroy NYC.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): “Globalizing the intifada by way of example is not an acceptable phrasing. [Mamdani] is going to have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward.”

Muslim socialist Zohran Mamdani DOUBLES DOWN on plans to kick ICE out of NYC Are you committed to keeping New York a sanctuary city? ZOHRAN: “Absolutely…I will be PROUD to stand up…those days [of arrests] are going to come to an END.”

CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings delivered a forceful defense of the Supreme Court’s ruling that effectively ended the use of universal injunctions, calling it a major win for President Donald Trump and a blow to judicial overreach – and used a quote from liberal Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan to prove the left’s hackery. Speaking on CNN Saturday Morning Table for Five, Jennings applauded the 6–3 decision, which fell along ideological lines, as a long-overdue correction to the practice of allowing a single district court judge to block a president’s entire national agenda. “Friday was a great day for Donald Trump,” Jennings told the panel, listing the court ruling alongside stock market gains and Middle East peace developments as evidence of a banner week for the president. “The court really clears the way for him to enact the agenda on which he ran.” Jennings bolstered his argument by quoting none other than liberal Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. “It just can’t be right that one District Judge can stop a nationwide policy in its tracks,” he recited, noting that Kagan had made the remark in 2022 under a Democratic administration — even though she voted against the Supreme Court’s new ruling. “Just goes to show you that some of these folks really are hacks,” Jennings added, taking aim at what he saw as partisan flip-flopping on the bench. Host Abby Phillip pushed back, noting that “the hackery is definitely bipartisan,” pointing out that Republican figures, including former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, had previously celebrated nationwide injunctions when they blocked progressive policies. Still, Jennings stood firm, arguing the change was overdue. “It’s not right that one of these individual district court judges can act like a king or a monarch and stop the elected president from acting,” he said. The ruling, which conservatives had long sought, will dramatically reshape how legal challenges to presidential authority play out in the lower courts — setting the stage for potentially faster, broader execution of executive orders by Trump as he pursues the policies of his second term. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Sparks of a Nation began as a WhatsApp Status—sharing powerful stories, uplifting messages, and sparks of Yiddishkeit. *Now, we’re bringing that same inspiration to your Shabbos with Sparks of a Nation: Shabbos Edition—a beautifully curated, bi-weekly print magazine.* Each issue is designed to uplift and enrich your Shabbos, featuring heartwarming stories, Torah insights, stunning visuals, and meaningful content the whole family can enjoy—all in a format you can hold, savor, and share. Read more: https://sparksofanation.com/sparks/introducing-sparks-of-a-nation-shabbos-edition-now-at-your-doorstep/

President Donald Trump says he is not planning to extend a 90-day pause on tariffs on most nations beyond July 9, when the negotiating period he set would expire, and his administration will notify countries that the trade penalties will take effect unless there are deals with the United States. Letters will start going out “pretty soon” before the approaching deadline, he said. “We’ll look at how a country treats us — are they good, are they not so good — some countries we don’t care, we’ll just send a high number out,” Trump told Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” during a wide-ranging interview taped Friday and broadcast Sunday. Those letters, he said, would say, “Congratulations, we’re allowing you to shop in the United States of America, you’re going to pay a 25% tariff, or a 35% or a 50% or 10%.” Trump had played down the deadline at a White House news conference Friday by noting how difficult it would be to work out separate deals with each nation. The administration had set a goal of reaching 90 trade deals in 90 days. Negotiations continue, but “there’s 200 countries, you can’t talk to all of them,” he said in the interview. Trump also discussed a potential TikTok deal, relations with China, the strikes on Iran and his immigration crackdown. Here are the key takeaways: Few details on possible TikTok deal A group of wealthy investors will make an offer to buy TikTok, Trump said, hinting at a deal that could safeguard the future of the popular social media platform, which is owned by China’s ByteDance. “We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way. I think I’ll need, probably, China approval, and I think President Xi (Jinping) will probably do it,” Trump said. Trump did not offer any details about the investors, calling them “a group of very wealthy people.” “I’ll tell you in about two weeks,” he said when asked for specifics. It’s a time frame Trump often cites, most recently about a decision on whether the U.S. military would get directly involved in the war between Israel and Iran. The U.S. struck Iranian nuclear sites just days later. Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order to keep TikTok running in the U.S. for 90 more days to give his administration more time to broker a deal to bring the social media platform under American ownership. It is the third time Trump extended the deadline. The first one was through an executive order on Jan. 20, his first day in office, after the platform went dark briefly when a national ban — approved by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court — took effect. Trump insists US ‘obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear facilities U.S. strikes on Iran “obliterated” its nuclear facilities, Trump insisted, and he said whoever leaked a preliminary intelligence assessment suggesting Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back only a few months should be prosecuted. Trump said Iran was “weeks away” from achieving a nuclear weapon before he ordered the strikes. “It was obliterated like nobody’s ever seen before,” Trump said. “And that meant the end to their nuclear ambitions, at least for a period of time.” Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Sunday on X that Trump “exaggerated to cover up and conceal the truth.” Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that his […]

Iran’s nuclear program could be back online “in a matter of months,” despite punishing U.S. and Israeli attacks on key facilities, UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi warned in an interview — contradicting claims from President Donald Trump and Israeli officials that Iran’s nuclear ambitions had been set back for years. Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told CBS News that although damage to Iranian nuclear sites was “serious,” critical capabilities remained intact. “Some is still standing,” he said, adding that Iran could have “a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium” in months, or possibly less. His comments mirror a preliminary Pentagon intelligence report leaked last week that concluded U.S. strikes on Natanz, Fordo, and Isfahan had failed to destroy underground facilities and left most of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile untouched. That assessment, rejected by the White House, suggested Iran was now about six months from nuclear breakout, compared to three months before the U.S. airstrikes. Grossi went further, warning that IAEA inspectors cannot verify whether Tehran secretly moved part of its estimated 408-kilogram stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity — material which, if further refined, could fuel more than nine nuclear bombs. “We don’t know where this material could be,” he acknowledged, urging Iran to grant inspectors immediate access. So far, Tehran has refused. Iranian lawmakers voted to suspend cooperation with the IAEA and rejected Grossi’s request to inspect the damaged facilities, especially at Fordo, a key enrichment hub. “We need to be in a position to ascertain, to confirm what is there, and where is it and what happened,” Grossi told CBS. Trump, in a separate interview on Fox News, dismissed concerns about missing nuclear material, insisting, “They didn’t move anything,” and arguing Iran lacked time to hide its stockpile ahead of the strikes. Israel began its bombing campaign on June 13, aiming to cripple Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and to eliminate senior Iranian military figures. The United States followed suit on June 22, hitting three additional nuclear-related sites. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, conceded that damage was “serious,” but declined to share specifics, while Trump claimed the U.S.-Israeli campaign had set Iran’s nuclear work back “decades.” IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Effi Defrin echoed that optimism, telling reporters Israel believed the strikes had delayed Iran’s program by “years,” though he acknowledged it was “still too early” to measure the full impact. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Socialist NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is standing firm on his controversial plan to raise property taxes on what he calls “richer and whiter neighborhoods” — and went even further Sunday, saying billionaires shouldn’t exist at all. Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Mamdani claimed his tax plan was “not driven by race” — despite his campaign platform explicitly targeting white homeowners. “That is just a description of what we see right now. It’s not driven by race. It’s more of an assessment of what neighborhoods are being under-taxed versus over-taxed,” Mamdani said. “We’ve seen time and again that this is a property tax system that is inequitable. It’s one that actually Eric Adams ran on, saying that he would change in the first 100 days,” he added. Brushing aside concerns that his rhetoric could turn off voters, Mamdani insisted he’s “just naming things as they are.” While warning that New York City’s tax base is shrinking due to residents fleeing to neighboring states, Mamdani argued that hiking taxes on the wealthy is the only way to save the city. “We are talking about our tax base growing smaller and smaller each day, with New Yorkers leaving to New Jersey, to Pennsylvania, to Connecticut,” Mamdani bemoaned. “If we do not meet this moment, we will lose the city.” Although he acknowledged that he lacks the authority to unilaterally raise taxes without Albany’s approval, Mamdani said his goal is to normalize radical ideas. He explained that his role is to take what “is considered a nonstarter and make it seem inevitable.” Mamdani also took direct aim at New York’s wealthiest residents, saying: “I don’t think that we should have billionaires, frankly.” New York City currently has more billionaires than any other city in the world — 123 in total. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The IDF on Sunday ordered mass evacuations across northern Gaza ahead of an intensified assault against Hamas, even as U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up public pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lock down a ceasefire deal. The evacuation directive, issued in Arabic posts and in text messages sent directly to Palestinian phones, covers the Jabalia area and most Gaza City districts — neighborhoods that had already been designated as no-go zones weeks ago. Residents were told to head toward the Mawasi area in southern Gaza, a narrow coastal zone where tens of thousands have already sought refuge. “The IDF is operating with extreme force in these areas, and these military operations will escalate, intensify, and extend westward to the city center to destroy the capabilities of the terrorist organizations,” IDF Arabic-language spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee posted on X, warning civilians that Hamas was “bringing a disaster upon you” and urging them not to return to what he called “dangerous combat zones.” The stepped-up warnings come as Netanyahu convenes top security officials Sunday for a progress briefing on the military campaign. According to a senior security source, commanders will tell the prime minister they are nearing key objectives but caution that further expanding the fighting could jeopardize the fate of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. Meanwhile, Arab mediators from Egypt and Qatar, working with U.S. officials, are once again pushing to restart stalled ceasefire talks, seeking to end the 20-month conflict and secure the release of remaining Israeli hostages. Trump, for his part, has gone on the offensive, posting early Sunday on Truth Social: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!! DJT,” while also repeating calls for Israeli prosecutors to drop Netanyahu’s corruption trial, arguing the prime minister’s legal troubles should not derail a hostage deal. A Hamas official told Reuters the group had relayed to mediators its willingness to return to negotiations but stood firm on its core demand: any ceasefire must include an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a full end to the war. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Republican mayoral hopeful Curtis Sliwa is drawing fierce criticism for stubbornly staying in a race that many warn could hand New York City to a radical socialist bent on dismantling the economic foundations of America’s largest metropolis. Sliwa, speaking Sunday on WABC’s “Cats Roundtable,” noted that Zohran Mamdani — a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist — has surged thanks to a powerful digital campaign targeting younger voters, but said his win his ultimately Mayor Adams’ fault. Mamdani, once a blip at just 1% in February, has since clinched the Democratic nomination and is poised to lead a city synonymous with free enterprise and capitalism. “There is no Zohran Mamdani if Eric Adams had done a decent job,” Sliwa argued, seeking to shift blame onto the embattled mayor. But critics say Sliwa’s refusal to drop out of the race — even as Adams runs as an independent — will fracture opposition votes and all but guarantee Mamdani’s victory. While billionaire grocery magnate John Catsimatidis is rallying wealthy donors to fight Mamdani’s push for government-run supermarkets and a far-left economic vision, Sliwa is defiant. “Unless they figure out a way to put me in a pine box and bury me six feet under,” he told Catsimatidis, “I’m not going anywhere.” Observers say that stance amounts to political malpractice. By clinging to a candidacy with slim prospects, Sliwa risks clearing the path for Mamdani to remake New York in a socialist mold — a move that could devastate business, drive out investment, and permanently alter the character of the city. Instead of working to build a broad coalition to stop Mamdani’s radical agenda, Sliwa seems intent on pursuing a personal crusade, even if it means presiding over the ashes of a once-thriving economic powerhouse. Ultimately, history may remember Curtis Sliwa not as the crime-fighting Guardian Angel, but as the enabler who handed New York City to a hard-left ideologue on a silver platter. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Russia launched its biggest aerial attack against Ukraine overnight, a Ukrainian official said Sunday, part of an escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the 3-year-old war. Russia fired a total of 537 aerial weapons at Ukraine, including 477 drones and decoys and 60 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said. Of these, 249 were shot down and 226 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed. The onslaught was “the most massive airstrike” on the country since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, taking into account both drones and various types of missiles, Yuriy Ihnat, head of communications for Ukraine’s air force, told The Associated Press. The attack targeted several regions, including western Ukraine, far from the front line. Poland and allied countries scrambled aircraft to ensure the safety of Polish airspace, the country’s air force said. Three people were killed in each of the drone strikes in the Kherson, Kharkiv and the Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to the three governors. Another person was killed by an airstrike in Kostyantynivka, local officials said. In addition to aerial attacks, a man died when Russian troops shelled the city of Kherson, and the body of a 70-year-old woman was found under the rubble of a nine-story building hit by Russian shelling in the Zaporizhzhia region. In the far-western Lviv region, a large fire broke out at an industrial facility in the city of Drohobych following a drone attack that also cut electricity to parts of the city. Ukraine’s air force said one of its F-16 warplanes supplied by its Western partners crashed after sustaining damage while shooting down air targets. The pilot died. Russian troops reportedly advance in Donetsk Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had shot down three Ukrainian drones overnight. Two people were wounded in another Ukrainian drone attack on the city of Bryansk in western Russia, regional Gov. Alexander Bogomaz said Sunday morning, adding that seven more Ukrainian drones had been shot down over the region. Meanwhile, Russia claimed Sunday that it had taken control of the village of Novoukrainka in the partially Russian-occupied Donetsk region. Russian forces have been slowly grinding forward at some points on the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, though their incremental gains have been costly in terms of troop casualties and damaged armor. In other developments, Russia’s foreign intelligence chief, Sergei Naryshkin, said he had spoken on the phone with his U.S. counterpart, CIA Director John Ratcliffe. “I had a phone call with my American counterpart and we reserved for each other the possibility to call at any time and discuss issues of interest to us,” Naryshkin said in remarks to state TV reporter Pavel Zarubin, who posted them on his Telegram channel on Sunday. Sunday’s attacks follow Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments two days ago that Moscow is ready for a fresh round of direct peace talks in Istanbul. Two recent rounds of talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul were brief and yielded no progress on reaching a settlement. Zelenskyy withdraws Ukraine from an anti-land mine pact Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree to withdraw Ukraine from the Ottawa Convention banning antipersonnel land mines, a Ukrainian lawmaker said Sunday. The move follows similar recent steps by the Baltic states and Poland. The 1997 treaty prohibits the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of antipersonnel […]

CNN host Michael Smerconish delivered an on-air assessment Saturday, arguing President Donald Trump is “on a roll” and enjoying the strongest stretch of his second term yet, citing the president’s series of military, economic, and political victories that have left opponents scrambling. “Donald Trump is having a moment,” Smerconish declared at the top of his CNN program, acknowledging his own past criticism of the president but insisting that “viewed objectively,” the past 10 days have been Trump’s best since returning to the White House. Among the highlights, Smerconish pointed to Trump’s precision bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear facilities, praising its stealth and the absence of American casualties. He also noted Trump’s willingness to engage on a ceasefire, which the CNN host described as a sign of more layered governing. On the economic front, Smerconish cited record stock market highs, falling inflation, and a surge in blue-collar wage growth — 1.7% in Trump’s first five months, the largest such jump in nearly three generations. Foreign policy achievements were also on Smerconish’s list: NATO allies doubling their contributions, a trade deal with China, and an apparent lack of damaging fallout from the administration’s tariff policies. The CNN host additionally highlighted new data from Pew Research showing Trump “won a bigger percentage of the Latino vote than previously believed,” and that even in a scenario of maximum voter turnout in 2024, Trump would still have prevailed. Smerconish argued that Trump’s second term is fundamentally different from the first, with a loyalist cabinet and a more methodical style of governing. “Winning became a punchline that Trump’s opponents used to lampoon him in his first administration,” he said. “This time he came with a plan … no longer solely guided by winning each day’s news cycle.” He closed with his conclusion: “By any objective measure, President Trump has his opponents on the run.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Tropical Storm Barry formed Sunday near Mexico’s southeast coast and is expected to drench the region for several days. The storm’s center was located about 90 miles (140 kilometers) east-southeast of Tuxpan, Mexico and about 165 miles (about 265 kilometers) southeast of Tampico, Mexico, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. It had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and was moving northwest at 6 mph (9 kph). A tropical storm warning is in effect for the coast of Mexico from Boca de Catan southward to Tecolutla. The storm is expected to strengthen slightly before it reaches the coast of southeastern Mexico. Rapid weakening is expected after the system moves inland. Forecasters said that the storm could dump three to six inches (eight to 15 centimeters) of rain with an isolated maximum total of 10 inches (25 centimeters) across Veracruz, San Luis Potosi, and Tamaulipas through Monday. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Flossie formed off Mexico’s southwest coast. It was located about 240 miles (390 kilometers) south of Acapulco and was moving west at 9 mph (15 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph). A tropical storm watch was in effected for Mexico’s southwest coast from Zihuatanejo to Cabo Corrientes. Flossie is expected to become a hurricane on Monday or Tuesday, but remains in open waters just west of Mexico. Forecasters said the storm could dump three to six inches (eight to 15 centimeters) of rain with an isolated maximum total of 10 inches (25 centimeters) across parts of Oaxaca, Guerrero, Michoacán, Colima, and Jalisco through early next week. (AP)

Israel and Syria are on track to sign a landmark peace agreement before the end of 2025, according to a Syrian source speaking to i24NEWS. Under the reported framework, Israel would gradually withdraw from all Syrian territory it seized during its incursion into the buffer zone on December 8, including the strategic peak of Mount Hermon. The deal, if finalized, would fully normalize ties between the two longtime adversaries, with one source describing the Golan Heights as being transformed into “a garden for peace.”

More than four years after a Florida condominium collapse killed 98 people, federal investigators have yet to make a final determination of the cause — but they do have some leading theories. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, the agency handling the probe, said this week it hopes to conclude the investigation in 2026. “We intend for our investigation of this failure to have a lasting impact, save future lives and ensure this never happens again,” NIST investigator Judith Mitrani-Reiser said in the agency’s latest report. Most residents were asleep in the 12-story Champlain Towers South when the beachfront condo building in Surfside, Florida, collapsed into a huge pile of rubble at 1:22 a.m. on June 24, 2021. As the investigation continued, a Miami judge approved a more than $1 billion settlement for personal injury and wrongful death claims from the disaster. Meanwhile, a new luxury condominium is going up at the Champlain Towers site, a few miles north of Miami. What caused the collapse? NIST has zeroed in on what it calls three “higher-likelihood” scenarios, all related to construction flaws that date to the beginning of the 40-year-old structure. “These conditions existed from the time construction was complete, 40 years before the partial collapse,” said Glen Bell, co-lead investigator on NIST’s National Construction Safety Team. One possibility is the failure of a connection between a building column and the pool deck slab that never met building code standards. Another is that steel reinforcement “was not placed where it should have been,” which meant the column and pool deck were far too weak. And a third theory is that work done later around the pool — when heavy planters, sand and pavers were added — increased the weight load on a deck “that was already functionally and structurally inadequate.” The NIST report also notes that support columns in the building’s basement parking garage had been exposed to frequent flooding, which causes corrosion in steel reinforcements and concrete deterioration. Are there other theories? Investigators did not find evidence of voids in the ground under the building, known as “karst.” Using satellite data, the NIST team found there was no sinking or settling underneath Champlain Towers, which would indicate existence of karst. In addition, investigators found the limestone upon which the condo was built was “sufficient to carry the building loads” and that testing of the concrete supporting Champlain Towers had “adequate material strength.” One challenge for investigators was the lack of any available records from the original building construction and not many from its earlier years. How are other condo buildings handling new rules? After Surfside, state legislators enacted a law in 2022 requiring condo associations to have sufficient reserves to cover major repairs. Some residents were caught off guard by hefty fees imposed to cover years of deferred maintenance expenses required to bring their buildings into compliance with the law’s standards. Gov. Ron DeSantis this week signed new legislation allowing some condo associations to fund their reserves through a loan or line of credit. It also gives residents more flexibility to pause payments into reserve funds while they prioritize needed repairs. It extends the deadline for condo associations to complete structural integrity studies and exempts some smaller buildings from those studies. “Now it’s time to make the change,” state Sen. Ed Hooper said. “Elderly people […]

Trump on Mamdani: “He’s a pure communist. I think he admits it … If he does get in, I’m gonna be president and he’s gonna have to the right thing or they’re not getting any money. He’s gotta do the right thing.”

The Jerusalem District Court announced that it is canceling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled testimony in his criminal trial this week, following his appearance in a closed-door court session today on the matter. Netanyahu requested in court that his scheduled testimony for the next two weeks be delayed due to diplomatic and national security issues, after two such requests were rejected on Friday.