British police on Monday were investigating an overnight fire at the London house where Prime Minister Keir Starmer lived before he was elected to lead the country. Since taking office in July, Starmer has lived in the prime minister’s official Downing Street residence, renting out the family home in the Kentish Town neighborhood. London’s Metropolitan Police force said that counterterrorism officers were involved in the investigation. Firefighters were called to “a small fire” just after 1 a.m. (0000 GMT or 8 p.m. EDT), the city’s fire department said. Two engines responded, and the blaze was out within a half-hour. Police said that officers who responded to the scene found damage “to the property’s entrance,” but that nobody was hurt. “The fire is being investigated and cordons remain in place while enquiries continue,” the police force said. A cordon of police tape was visible outside the house on Monday. Starmer’s house has attracted protesters in the past. Last year, three pro-Palestinian activists were arrested and charged with public order offenses after unfurling a banner covered in red handprints outside the building. Starmer’s spokesman, Dave Pares, said that “the prime minister thanks the emergency services for their work.” He said the fire “is subject to a live investigation, so I can’t comment any further.” (AP)
In a major development for Orthodox Jewish families across the U.S., the House Ways and Means Committee has included the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) in its section of the multi-trillion federal tax reconciliation package being considered by the House of Representatives. The proposed legislation would allocate $5 billion in annual federal tax credits to support scholarships that help cover private school tuition—including for yeshivos. The bill’s inclusion marks a key milestone for advocates of school choice, particularly in the Orthodox Jewish community where the cost of chinuch has long been a source of financial strain for families. If passed, ECCA could provide real tuition relief, offering scholarship assistance through Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) to families earning up to 300% of their area’s median income. “This is a major step forward for our community and for Jewish education,” Rabbi Avi Schnall, Agudas Yisrael’s Director of Federal Education Affairs and Assemblyman for New Jersey’s 30th District, said. “But we’re not at the finish line yet. We must remain focused and continue our efforts.” Agudah has been deeply involved in pushing the ECCA forward—meeting with lawmakers, organizing email campaigns, and encouraging frum Yidden to get involved. Thousands responded, and the resulting groundswell played a role in getting the bill this far. If enacted, the ECCA would allow individuals to receive federal tax credits in exchange for donations to SGOs. These organizations would, in turn, offer scholarships to help families cover yeshiva tuition, tutoring, special education services, and other educational expenses. Agudas Yisrael points out that while the bill has cleared an important hurdle, it still faces a full House vote and then a Senate battle. It is tied to the broader budget reconciliation process, which can be politically complex. Rabbi Schnall is encouraging continued involvement: “Now is not the time to sit back. We’re closer than we’ve ever been to real, meaningful change. But we need more tefillos, more outreach, and continued attention until this becomes law.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
President Isaac Herzog watched the release of Israeli-US hostage Edan Alexander on his phone in the final minutes of his meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin this afternoon.
President Donald Trump on Monday signed a sweeping executive order setting a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to electively lower the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. or face new limits down the road over what the government will pay. The order calls on the health department, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to broker new price tags for drugs over the next month. If deals are not reached, Kennedy will be tasked with developing a new rule that ties the price the U.S. pays for medications to lower prices paid by other countries. “We’re going to equalize,” Trump said during a Monday morning press conference. “We’re all going to pay the same. We’re going to pay what Europe pays.” It’s unclear what — if any — impact the Republican president’s executive order will have on millions of Americans who have private health insurance. The federal government has the most power to shape the price it pays for drugs covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Trump’s promised new — but uncertain — savings on drug prices, just hours after the Republican-led House released its new plan to trim $880 billion from Medicaid. Taxpayers spend hundreds of billions of dollars on prescription drugs, injectables, transfusions and other medications every year through Medicare, which covers nearly 70 million older Americans. Medicaid, which provides nearly-free health care for almost 80 million poor and disabled people in the U.S. also spends tens of billions of dollars each year for drugs. Top US drugmakers say Trump’s order is bad for patients The nation’s pharmaceutical lobby, which represents the top U.S. drugmakers, immediately pushed back against Trump’s order, calling it a “bad deal” for American patients. Drugmakers have long argued that any threats to their profits could impact the research they do to develop new drugs. “Importing foreign prices from socialist countries would be a bad deal for American patients and workers,” Stephen J. Ubl, the president and CEO of PhRMA, said in a statement. “It would mean less treatments and cures and would jeopardize the hundreds of billions our member companies are planning to invest in America.” Trump’s so-called “most favored nation” approach to Medicare drug pricing has been controversial since he first tried to implement it during his first term. He signed a similar executive order in the final weeks of his presidency, which called for the U.S. to only pay a lower price that other countries pay for some drugs — such as injectables or cancer drugs given through infusions — administered in a doctor’s office. That narrow executive order faced hurdles, with a court order that blocked the rule from going into effect under President Joe Biden’s administration. The pharmaceutical industry argued that Trump’s 2020 attempt would give foreign governments the “upper hand” in deciding the value of medicines in the U.S. Trump says other countries are to blame Trump repeatedly defended pharmaceutical companies, instead blaming other countries for the high price Americans pay for drugs, during a wide-ranging speech at the White House on Monday. The president was flanked by Kennedy, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Marty Makary and National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya. He did, however, threaten the companies with federal investigations into their practices and opening up the U.S. drug market to bring in more imported medications from other […]
Col. Adi Ganon, Commander of the Israel Defense Force’s Golani Brigade, addressed his troops via radio tonight after the release Edan Alexander from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip. “Today, as we battle the same ruthless enemy, we learned of Edan’s release. Edan, who fought bravely that terrible morning, is returning home. The Golani family welcomes you back, is deeply moved by your return, and stands with you fully.”
A heartfelt moment occurred when Steve Witkoff passed the phone to Edan Alexander’s mother, enabling her to talk with her son for the first time since being kidnapped 583 days ago.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday described as “unfair” the decision by the Trump administration to suspend imports of Mexican beef cattle for 15 days due to the detection of screwworm in shipments. Sheinbaum, who has spent the past few months scrambling to offset tariff threats by U.S. President Donald Trump, said she hoped the suspension would not result in another economic blow for her country. “We do not agree with this measure,” she said at her morning press conference on Monday. “The Mexican government has been working an all fronts from the very first moment we were alerted to the screwworm.” The U.S. restricted Mexican cattle shipments in late November following the detection of the pest, but lifted the ban in February after protocols were put in place to evaluate the animals prior to entry into the country. But there has been an “unacceptable northward advancement” of the screwworm, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement Sunday. “The last time this devastating pest invaded the U.S. it took our livestock industry 30 years to recover,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on the X social media platform. “This can never happen again.” The screwworm is a larva of the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly that can invade the tissues of any warm-blooded animal, including humans. The parasite enters the skin, causing serious and life-threatening damage and lesions. Mexico’s Health Ministry issued an epidemiological warning this month after the first human case of screwworm myiasis, or parasitic infestation, was confirmed on April 17 in a 77-year-old woman living in the southern state of Chiapas. (AP)
Speaking at the military’s hostages and missing persons headquarters during the release of hostage soldier Staff Sgt. Edan Alexander, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir vows that the army will continue to work for the release of the remaining captives held by Hamas.
On Monday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the emotional return of Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, who had been held in Gaza. In a heartfelt statement, Netanyahu said, “This is a very emotional moment – Edan Alexander has returned home. We embrace him and we embrace his family.” The Prime Minister attributed Alexander’s release to a combination of military and diplomatic efforts, specifically highlighting the role of U.S. President Donald Trump. “This was achieved thanks to our military pressure and the diplomatic pressure applied by President Trump. This is a winning combination,” Netanyahu stated. He revealed that he spoke with Trump earlier in the day, noting, “I spoke with President Trump today. He told me ‘I am committed to Israel. I am committed to continuing to work with you in close cooperation’ – in order to achieve all of our war objectives: Releasing all of the hostages, and defeating Hamas.” Netanyahu emphasized the interconnected nature of these goals, adding, “This goes together. They are combined with each other.” The release of Edan Alexander marks a significant step in Israel’s ongoing efforts to secure the return of all hostages and achieve its broader military objectives in the conflict with Hamas. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
PM Bibi Netanyahu ’embraces’ Edan Alexander after his release, stressing it would not have been possible without the combination of intense military pressure and Trump’s diplomacy.
Despite intensive Israeli military operations in Gaza, Hamas continues to rebuild and expand its subterranean terror infrastructure, Israeli defense officials said Sunday. According to a report by Kan Reshet Bet, the IDF has so far destroyed only about 25% of Hamas’s known tunnel network. The sprawling system of underground passages—used by Hamas to ambush troops, smuggle weapons, and conceal movements—remains a persistent threat to Israeli forces operating in the Strip. Military officials have voiced growing concern over the terror group’s ability to repair damaged tunnels and dig new ones, even under sustained IDF pressure. Hamas operatives reportedly rely on the tunnels to plant explosives, fire anti-tank missiles, and then retreat to safety underground, avoiding direct combat. Separately, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zarmir met with several recently released hostages, including Romi Gonen, Liri Albag, Sasha Trufanov, and Omer Shem Tov. The hostages, held captive by Hamas in underground cells, recounted hearing nearby explosions, tank movements, and even voices speakiny Hebrew—indications of IDF activity close to their locations during their captivity. “The return of the hostages and ensuring their safety remain our top priorities,” Zamir said following the meeting. “We will continue to take all necessary actions to achieve our war objectives—bringing all hostages home and dismantling Hamas’s terror capabilities once and for all.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
In a signal of growing turbulence in U.S.-Israel relations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers Sunday night that Israel may begin phasing out the $4 billion in annual military assistance it receives from the United States — a cornerstone of the strategic alliance between the two countries for decades. “I think we will need to wean ourselves off American military aid,” Netanyahu reportedly told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, according to the Israeli daily Maariv. The comments come amid a deepening diplomatic rupture with the administration of President Donald Trump, once Israel’s most vocal backer on the world stage. While Netanyahu did not offer specifics about the timeline or rationale behind the abrupt statement, the timing is impossible to ignore. The announcement followed reports that Trump has cut off direct contact with Netanyahu, accusing him privately of manipulation and obstruction on key foreign policy issues — including Hamas negotiations, Iran strategy, and stalled Saudi-Israeli normalization efforts. Adding fuel to the fire, Trump recently confirmed that his administration held direct talks with Hamas over the release of Edan Alexander, a dual American-Israeli citizen held hostage in Gaza – further sidelining Israeli involvement in what would normally be a joint diplomatic priority. Netanyahu’s statement coincides with a barrage of U.S. moves that have blindsided Israeli leadership. Chief among them: a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have openly declared they will continue attacking Israeli targets even as they agree to halt operations against American forces in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait. Trump’s confirmation of the deal — negotiated through Oman — effectively created a geopolitical firewall between U.S. and Israeli interests in the region. Sources quoted in Maariv said Israeli officials were stunned by what appears to be a strategic decoupling by Washington. The abandonment of preconditions for Saudi normalization with Israel has further deepened Tel Aviv’s unease. Trump is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates this week — with no stop planned in Israel. Once seen as perhaps the strongest U.S.-Israel alliance in modern history, the Trump-Netanyahu relationship now appears to be unraveling. The implications could be profound: a weakened U.S.-Israel front against Iran, diminished Israeli influence in regional diplomacy, and a future where Israel may have to operate with fewer American resources — both diplomatic and military. “Israel’s official silence on all these developments is deafening,” Maariv noted, “but it speaks volumes about a relationship in crisis.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Six Bulgarians convicted of carrying out a sophisticated spying operation for Russia were sentenced by a London judge Monday to prison terms up to nearly 11 years. The group that used Hollywood code names discussed kidnapping or killing Kremlin opponents as they targeted reporters, diplomats and Ukrainian troops in the U.K., Germany Austria, Spain and Montenegro between 2020 and 2023, prosecutors said. No one was physically harmed but the group put lives in jeopardy, prosecutors said. “It is self-evident that a high price attaches to the safety and interests of this nation,” Justice Nicholas Hilliard, said. “The defendants put these things at risk by using this country as a base from which to plan the various operations. … Anyone who uses this country in that way, in the circumstances of this case, commits a very serious offense.” Ringleader Orlin Roussev, who operated out of a former guesthouse in the English seaside resort town of Great Yarmouth, was given the stiffest sentence — 10 years and 8 months in prison — for being involved in all six operations discovered by police. He and the others faced up to 14 years behind bars. Roussev worked for alleged Russian agent Jan Marsalek, an Austrian national who is wanted by Interpol for fraud and embezzlement after the 2020 collapse of German payment processing firm Wirecard, prosecutors said. His whereabouts are unknown. Stiff sentences send a message Security Minister Dan Jarvis said the case sends a warning to other foes that Britain will use its “full range of tools” to “detect, disrupt, and deter malicious acts from hostile states and protect the public.” Roussev, 47, and his lieutenant Biser Dzhambazov, 44, pleaded guilty in London’s Central Criminal Court last year to espionage charges and having false identity documents. Dzhambazov was sentenced to 10 years and 2 months in prison. Roussev called himself Jackie Chan and Dzhambazov was dubbed Mad Max, or Jean-Claude Van Damme. Their underlings were dubbed “Minions” from the animated “Despicable Me” franchise. Police said their fanciful pseudonyms masked a deadly serious gang. In one operation, members tried to lure a journalist who uncovered Moscow’s involvement in the 2018 Novichok poisoning of a former Russian spy in Salisbury, England, into a “honeytrap” with another member of the group, Vanya Gaberova. The spies followed Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian researcher for the online publication Bellingcat, from Vienna to a conference in Valencia, Spain, and the gang’s ringleaders discussed robbing and killing him, or kidnapping him and taking him to Russia. “Learning only in retrospect that foreign agents have been monitoring my movements, communications and home, surveying my loved ones over an extended period — has been terrifying, disorientating and deeply destabilizing,” Grozev said in a statement read during the four-day sentencing hearing. “The consequences have not faded with time — they have fundamentally changed how I live my daily life and how I relate to the world around me.” Ringleader claimed he was ‘no James Bond’ In another operation, members of the group conducted surveillance on a U.S. air base in Germany where they believed Ukrainian troops were training. After police raided his house and arrested Roussev, he denied doing anything on behalf of any government. “I would be thrilled to see how on God’s earth there is a connection between me and Russia or any other state because I […]
Edan Alexander’s mother, Yael, brought a Golani flag and hat to welcome Edan at the Re’im facility. With Edan finally freed from captivity, this is the first time in over a decade that the IDF’s Golani Brigade will not have any members held hostage in Gaza.
Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli-American soldier and the last known living U.S. citizen held hostage in Gaza, was handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) by Hamas on Monday. The handover took place in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, and Alexander is now en route to Israeli territory. The release, the first since the collapse of a ceasefire in March, has sparked hope for renewed negotiations to free the remaining 58 hostages still held in Gaza. Hamas announced late Sunday that it had agreed to release Alexander following direct talks with the U.S. administration, facilitated by mediators Qatar and Egypt. The handover occurred without a public ceremony, a departure from previous Hamas-orchestrated releases, and was described as taking place under “secretive circumstances” by Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum. Red Cross vehicles collected Alexander in Khan Younis and transported him to Israeli forces via the Kissufim crossing. The IDF reported that Alexander is being transferred to a special military unit and will be taken to a facility at the Re’im military base for initial medical and psychological evaluations before reuniting with his family. He is expected to be airlifted to Sourasky (Ichilov) Hospital in Tel Aviv for further care. Hamas’s military spokesman, Abu Obaida, said that the release was a “goodwill gesture” aimed at facilitating a ceasefire, resuming humanitarian aid to Gaza, and opening negotiations for a prisoner exchange. The terror group emphasized its readiness to engage in “intensive negotiations” to end the war, exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and establish an independent administration in Gaza. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office clarified that Israel has not committed to a ceasefire or prisoner releases, only agreeing to a “safe corridor” for Alexander’s transfer. The IDF is prepared to resume fighting in Gaza once Alexander is in Israeli territory, an official told The Jerusalem Post. Edan Alexander, born in Tel Aviv and raised in Tenafly, New Jersey, was serving in an elite IDF infantry unit near the Gaza border when he was abducted during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. The assault killed approximately 1,200 people and saw 251 individuals taken hostage, igniting the ongoing war. Alexander, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, was last seen in a Hamas propaganda video in April 2025, where he appealed directly to U.S. President Donald Trump for help. His parents, Yael and Adi Alexander, have been vocal advocates for his release, meeting with U.S. officials, including President Trump, to push for a deal. Hamas’s decision to release Alexander comes ahead of Trump’s Middle East tour, starting Tuesday, with planned stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, but notably excluding Israel. The release has been framed as a gesture toward the Trump administration, with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff playing a key role in negotiations. Witkoff, who traveled to Israel with Alexander’s mother on Sunday, described the release as a “positive step forward” and vowed to continue efforts to free all hostages. Trump hailed the development as “monumental news” on Truth Social, expressing hope that it could lead to the release of all remaining hostages and an end to the conflict. In Israel, the reaction is mixed. Crowds gathered in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square to celebrate Alexander’s release, waving flags and holding signs. However, some expressed frustration that Prime […]
