Following an investigation by Central District detectives, Israel Police’s Yamam unit conducted an intelligence-led operation in Ramallah to arrest a suspect wanted for murder.
House Republicans unveiled the cost-saving centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s “ big, beautiful bill ” late Sunday, at least $880 billion in cuts largely to Medicaid to help cover the cost of $4.5 trillion in tax breaks. Tallying hundreds of pages, the legislation is touching off the biggest political fight over health care since Republicans tried to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, during Trump’s first term in 2017 — which ended in failure. While Republicans insist they are simply rooting out “waste, fraud and abuse” to generate savings with new work and eligibility requirements, Democrats warn that millions of Americans will lose coverage. A preliminary estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the proposals would reduce the number of people with health care by 8.6 million over the decade. “Savings like these allow us to use this bill to renew the Trump tax cuts and keep Republicans’ promise to hardworking middle-class families,” said Rep. Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, the GOP chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which handles health care spending. But Democrats said the cuts are “shameful” and essentially amount to another attempt to repeal Obamacare. “In no uncertain terms, millions of Americans will lose their health care coverage,” said Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the panel. He said “hospitals will close, seniors will not be able to access the care they need, and premiums will rise for millions of people if this bill passes.” As Republicans race toward House Speaker Mike Johnson’s Memorial Day deadline to pass Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, they are preparing to flood the zone with round-the-clock public hearings this week on various sections before they are stitched together in what will become a massive package. The politics ahead are uncertain. More than a dozen House Republicans have told Johnson and GOP leaders they will not support cuts to the health care safety net programs that residents back home depend on. Trump himself has shied away from a repeat of his first term, vowing there will be no cuts to Medicaid. All told, 11 committees in the House have been compiling their sections of the package as Republicans seek at least $1.5 trillion in savings to help cover the cost of preserving the 2017 tax breaks, which were approved during Trump’s first term and are expiring at the end of the year. But the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee has been among the most watched. The committee was instructed to come up with $880 billion in savings and reached that goal, primarily with the health care cuts, but also by rolling back Biden-era green energy programs. The preliminary CBO analysis said the committee’s proposals would reduce the deficit by $912 billion over the decade — with at least $715 billion coming from the health provisions. Central to the savings are changes to Medicaid, which provides almost free health care to more than 70 million Americans, and the Affordable Care Act, which has expanded in the 15 years since it was first approved to cover millions more. To be eligible for Medicaid, there would be new “community engagement requirements” of at least 80 hours per month of work, education or service for able-bodied adults without dependents. People would also have […]
U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Israeli officials have arrived at the initial receiving point in Re’im, where they will await the arrival of Edan Alexander.
NOW: Hamas has released a statement stating that they have released hostage soldier Edan Alexander. Red Cross vehicles are now making their way to the IDF Base in Gaza for the handover.
Edan Alexander has reportedly been transferred to Red Cross custody. The Red Cross will bring him to IDF forces in Gaza, who will bring him back to Israel.
First images from the Gaza Strip ahead of the handover of Edan Alexander from Hamas to the Red Cross. The Red Cross is reportedly waiting at the handoff location.
Residents jumped from the windows of a four-story apartment building in Milwaukee during a Mother’s Day fire that killed four people, critically injured four others and grew so intense that the blaze outmatched the first firefighters to arrive, authorities said. Ladder trucks were used to rescue other residents from windows while some firefighters inside the burning building crawled on hands and knees to get people out, Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said Sunday. In all, about 30 people were rescued. Authorities have not said how the fire might have started. Lipski said the building did not have a sprinkler system and was built in 1968, predating a law that would have required one, according to the fire chief. “If we had sprinklers in the buidling we would have stopped the fire very, very small. We would not of had to have people jumping out of windows,” he said. Several other residents were treated for lesser injuries in the fire that began sometime before 8 a.m. The blaze rendered the 85-unit building uninhabitable, displacing an estimated 200 people. James Rubinstein, a resident in the building, said he jumped to the ground floor. “There was so much smoke. I climbed out the courtyard with my cat in my backpack,” Rubinstein told television station FOX6 Milwaukee. Emergency operaters received calls that people were trapped and jumping to escape. The first firefighters to arrive were “far, far outmatched” by intense flames, Lipski said. Authorities did not immediately release the identities or ages of the victims. Lipski said the fire began in a common area and spread to multiple floors. Eddie Edwards, another resident of the building, said he also jumped to escape. “I wasn’t thinking about nothing but getting away,” he told Milwaukee television station WISN. “Getting out and saving everyone’s life. It was a scary moment.” (AP)
The levaya for Tzvi Feldman hy”d, who was killed in the battle of Sultan Yacoub 43 years ago and whose body was retrieved from Syria yesterday in a clandestine IDF/Mossad operation.
POTUS: “The Houthis for the first time ever have ceased firing and they’ve let it be known that they’re not going to be firing at American ships anymore… Nobody was able to do it. We did.”
POTUS: “On Saturday, my Administration helped broker a full and immediate ceasefire — I think a permanent one — between India and Pakistan, ending a dangerous conflict of two nations with lots of nuclear weapons.”
Prime Minister’s Office said that Netanyahu thanked Trump for his role in freeing Edan Alexander. Trump reiterated his support for Israel and commitment to ongoing close collaboration with Netanyahu.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged Monday to cut immigration numbers and make it harder to settle in the U.K., confronting an issue that has bedeviled successive governments and fueled the rise of a new anti-immigrant party that could threaten the country’s political establishment. Starmer, whose center-left Labour Party won a landslide victory last July, is facing pressure from voters who are increasingly frustrated by high levels of immigration that many believe have strained public services and inflamed ethnic tensions in some parts of the country. Starmer said he would end “Britain’s failed experiment in open borders,’’ less than two weeks after Reform UK, the hard-right party led by Nigel Farage, scored big victories in local elections. Labour and the center-right Conservatives, long the dominant parties in British politics, both saw their support crater in the contests for local government councils and mayors. “Every area of the immigration system — work, family, and study — will be tightened up so we have more control,’’ Starmer said during a speech in Downing Street. “We will create a system that is controlled, selective and fair.’’ Immigration has been a potent issue in Britain for decades — especially since 2004, when the European Union expanded to Eastern Europe. While most EU countries restricted immigration from the new member states for a period of years, the U.K. immediately opened its labor market, attracting a flood of new arrivals. By 2010, then-Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to cut annual net immigration to less than 100,000, a target four Conservative governments failed to meet. In 2016, anger over the government’s inability to control immigration from the EU was a big factor in Britain’s vote to leave the bloc. But Brexit did nothing to reduce the number of people entering the country on visas for work, education and family reunification. Net migration — the number of people entering the U.K. minus those who left — reached more than 900,000 in the year to June 2023, according to official figures, almost four times the pre-Brexit level. It fell to 728,000 in the year to June 2024. In recent years, concerns that the government has lost control of Britain’s borders have been fueled by the sight of thousands of migrants entering the U.K. on leaky, inflatable boats operated by people smugglers. Some 37,000 people crossed the English Channel on small boats last year, down from 45,755 in 2022, government statistics show. Starmer has vowed to cut that number by tackling the criminal people-smuggling gangs that organize the journeys. Now he has also vowed to reduce legal migration “significantly” by cutting the number of visas granted for low-skilled work, raising salary thresholds for employment-related visas and raising English proficiency standards for migrants. He declined to set a target for the reduction. Starmer adopted the language of the pro-Brexit campaign he once opposed, saying his government would “take back control” of Britain’s borders. He said previous Conservatiive governments had overseen “a one-nation experiment in open borders, conducted on a country that voted for control. Well, no more.” Government plans published Monday pledge to slash the number of visas for low-skilled jobs and end overseas recruitment for care homes — essential but usually low-paid work. The government said it would improve the terms of employment in order to attract British workers to […]
