President Donald Trump’s day began typically enough, with a television interview and a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Then it took an unexpected and unusual turn when he appeared on the roof of the White House’s West Wing. Late Tuesday morning, Trump emerged from a door connected to the State Dining Room and stepped onto the roof above the press briefing room and west colonnade that walls the Rose Garden. He spent nearly 20 minutes surveying the rooftop and the grounds below, including a newly paved makeover of the Rose Garden. Reporters, tipped off by the out-of-the-ordinary positioning of snipers above the Oval Office, shouted questions from below. One called out: “Sir, why are you on the roof?” “Taking a little walk,” Trump shouted back. “It’s good for your health.” Trump walked with a small group that included James McCrery, architect of the newly announced $200 million ballroom project. They moved slowly, with Trump frequently gesturing and pointing at the roof and grounds. Several times, he wandered toward the corner nearest the press corps, waving and cupping his hands to shout responses to shouted questions. At one point, he said he was looking at “another way to spend my money for this country.” Later, near the end of his appearance on the roof, Trump was asked what he was going to build. He quipped, “Nuclear missiles.” The unexpected walk on the rooftop comes as Trump looks to leave a lasting footprint on what’s often referred to as “The People’s House.” He has substantially redecorated the Oval Office through the addition of golden flourishes and cherubs, presidential portraits and other items and installed massive flagpoles on the north and south lawns to fly the American flag. And last week, his administration announced that construction on a massive ballroom will begin in September and be ready before Trump ’s term ends in early 2029. While Trump appeared on the West Wing, the White House has said the ballroom will be where the “small, heavily changed, and reconstructed East Wing currently sits.” While rare, there have been times through the years where presidents ventured out onto — and even slept on — the White House roof. To promote renewable energy, President Jimmy Carter installed 32 solar panels on the West Wing roof in the 1970s. The panels were removed during the Reagan administration. In 1910, President William Howard Taft had a sleeping porch built on the roof to escape Washington’s hot summer nights. (AP)
A $1 billion class-action lawsuit filed this week in the Tel Aviv District Court accuses Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, of aiding and abetting the October 7 Hamas massacre by serving as a global broadcast platform for the terrorists’ crimes. The lawsuit, brought by survivors, bereaved families, and users of Meta’s platforms, claims that the company enabled the spread of horrific livestreamed footage of the attack and continues to allow that content to circulate, re-traumatizing victims and violating their rights. This is the first case of its kind in Israel—possibly in the world—to seek financial damages from a private tech company for facilitating atrocities committed by a foreign terror group. It marks a sharp escalation in the debate over the responsibility of digital platforms in the age of livestreamed violence and algorithm-driven content. The case centers around the story of the Idan family of Kibbutz Nachal Oz. On the morning of October 7, Hamas terrorists infiltrated their home. Maayan Idan, the family’s 22-year-old daughter, was murdered during the attack, while her family was held hostage. The terrorists filmed the ordeal and broadcast Maayan’s final moments live on Facebook. Her father, Tsachi Idan, was abducted and later executed in captivity. Both horrors unfolded in full view of the world—amplified by Meta’s platforms. “We heard glass shattering, footsteps on broken shards, and Arabic voices inside our home,” recounted Gali Idan, Maayan’s mother and Tsachi’s widow. “Tsachi braced himself against the safe room door, trying to hold them off. The terrorists had forced our teenage neighbor, Tomer Arava-Eliaz, to call out and beg us to open the door. When we didn’t, they tried to break in themselves. Tsachi resisted them while I protected our children.” The lawsuit details how Facebook and Instagram became, in the words of the petition, “an inseparable component of Hamas’ terror infrastructure.” According to the filing, Meta not only failed to stop the spread of terror content but continues to allow it to be shared and viewed to this day. The graphic livestreams—including murders, kidnappings, and psychological torture—were seen by millions, including young users who logged on that day unsuspectingly. Some families learned of the fates of their loved ones through these social media platforms. One woman discovered her daughter’s abduction via a live video on Instagram. Another logged into Facebook with her 14-year-old daughter and was exposed to the attacks in real time. Mor Beider watched as her grandmother was killed in front of a camera. Stav Arava found out through Facebook posts that his relatives had been taken hostage. His brother, Tomer Arava-Eliaz, was himself coerced at gunpoint to help lure neighbors into the hands of Hamas attackers—all of it recorded and uploaded. The legal team, consisting of attorneys Galit Karner, Asaf Shovinsky, Chen Shomeret, Karin Buaron, and Inbar Hasson of the firms G. Karner and Matri, Meiri, Wacht, argue that Meta violated both the privacy and dignity of the victims and their families, while also endangering public mental health—especially that of children—by enabling the proliferation of violent content. The complaint asserts that the trauma inflicted by these videos is not a one-time event. Each day the content remains online, the psychological wounds are reopened. “These scenes of brutality, humiliation, and terror are permanently etched into the memories of the victims’ families and the […]
The Titan submersible disaster could have been prevented, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a report Tuesday, but OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush ignored safety warnings, design flaws and crucial oversight that may have resulted in criminal charges had he survived. Rush and four passengers were killed in June 2023 when Titan suffered a catastrophic implosion as it descended to the wreck of the Titanic, sparking a dayslong search in the North Atlantic off Canada that grabbed international headlines. The Coast Guard convened its highest level of investigation in the aftermath, and the disaster has led to lawsuits and calls for tighter regulation of the developing private deep sea expedition industry. The Titan was operated by OceanGate, a private company based in Washington state. The Coast Guard found the company’s safety procedures were “critically flawed” and cited “glaring disparities” between safety protocols and actual practices. Preventing the next Titan disaster Jason Neubauer, with the Marine Board of Investigation, said that the findings will help prevent future tragedies. “There is a need for stronger oversight and clear options for operators who are exploring new concepts outside of the existing regulatory framework,” he said in a statement. OceanGate suspended operations in July 2023. A spokesperson for OceanGate, Christian Hammond, said the company has been wound down and was fully cooperating with the investigation, and offered condolences to the families of those who died and everyone affected. Coast Guard finds ‘red flags’ at OceanGate Investigators repeatedly pointed to OceanGate’s culture of downplaying, ignoring and even falsifying key safety information to improve its reputation and evade scrutiny from regulators. OceanGate ignored “red flags” and had a “toxic workplace culture.” “By strategically creating and exploiting regulatory confusion and oversight challenges, OceanGate was ultimately able to operate TITAN completely outside of the established deep-sea protocols,” the report found. Numerous OceanGate employees have come forward in the two years since the implosion to support those claims. The report says firings of senior staff members and the looming threat of being fired were used to dissuade employees and contractors from expressing safety concerns. The Marine Board concluded that Rush “exhibited negligence” which contributed to the deaths of four people. Had Rush not died in the implosion, the case would have been handed off to the U.S. Department of Justice and he may have been subject to criminal charges, the board said. OceanGate avoided oversight The company reclassified submersible passengers as “mission specialists” to bypass regulations on small passenger vessels and designate its subs as oceanic research vessels. Former mission specialists and OceanGate employees said their participation was “purely for a ride in the submersible, not for scientific research,” the report states. To obtain his credentials, Rush submitted a fraudulent sea service letter signed by OceanGate’s chief operations officer to the Coast Guard’s National Maritime Center, the report said. In the letter, Rush claimed past service as a crew member on Titan and misrepresented the size of the vessel, when in fact it had never been registered or admeasured. An experienced submersible pilot described serious safety concerns within OceanGate’s leadership over a decade before the disaster, when Rush insisted on solo piloting his “rich friends” on a dive using a company vessel that was only licensed for scientific research. The trip in 2010 caused over $10,000 in damage after a critical battery component was removed without proper documentation, reinforcing the […]
A new federal rule proposed Tuesday would make it easier for companies to use drones over longer distances out of the operator’s sight without having to go through a cumbersome waiver process. The federal government had already approved 657 waivers to allow companies such as Amazon and major utilities to do this in certain circumstances, but the waiver process made it difficult. The rule would establish a clear process for drone operators to seek approval for using drones this way. The industry has long pressed for the rule because being able to operate drones out of sight opens up a multitude of possibilities for their use. Being able to do this enables more use of drones for deliveries, inspecting infrastructure like bridges and power lines and other uses in agriculture like spraying fertilizer over thousands of acres on large farms. “This draft rule is a critical step toward enabling drone operations that will enhance safety, transform commercial services, and strengthen public safety with drones as a force multiplier,” Michael Robbins, president & CEO of the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International trade group, said in a statement. Rules spell out when drones can be flown out of sight The rule spells out the circumstances drones can be used under 400 feet under while working to ensure they don’t disrupt aviation and cause problems around airports, Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Bryan Bedford said. The drones will be required to have collision-avoidance technology to keep them away from planes and other drones. And the rule will only allow drones up to 1,320 pounds — including their payloads. “The issue hasn’t been that America just can’t innovate, America can’t create, America can’t build amazing drone technology. It’s that we’ve had a bureaucracy in place that makes it incredibly incredibly difficult for innovators to actually innovate,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. The rules are designed to address the way modern drones are being used today. “While the technology has rapidly advanced over the last decade, our regulatory framework in the United States has failed to keep pace,” said Lisa Ellman, CEO of the Commercial Drone Alliance group. “Drone operators must navigate a labyrinth of ill-suited regulations designed for crewed aircraft.” A rule in the works for years President Donald Trump issued executive orders in June directing the Transportation Department to quickly get this rule out. The orders also included restrictions meant to help protect against terrorism, espionage and public safety threats. Drones are already used in a variety of ways, including bolstering search and rescue operations, applying fertilizer, inspecting power lines and railroad bridges, and even delivering packages. Amazon is one of the companies that received a waiver allowing it to use drones this way for some of its deliveries in College Station, Texas, as it develops the technology. This rule should make it easier for Amazon and other companies to get approval to use drones this way in more communities. Addressing concerns about safety The war in Ukraine has highlighted how drones could be used in a military or terrorist attack — a concern as the World Cup and Olympics approach in the U.S. There also have been espionage cases where drones have been used to surveil sensitive sites. And White House officials said drones are being used to smuggle drugs over the border, and there are concerns about the potential for a disastrous collision between […]
Phones have become a constant struggle. We want something reliable, yet fast. Affordable, yet long-lasting. We want useful features, but we also want it basic. That balance has been elusive — until now. Introducing Keyphone — the phone designed to just work, without compromise. Whether it’s a mother juggling carpools, a businessman looking for focus, a rebbi or teacher who seeks more productivity, and anyone in between — Keyphone was built to deliver a seamless, distraction-free experience that lasts. It’s designed for people who want to get things done — with hardware and software that actually work, and work fast. Bringing back the best of both worlds:Keyphone features the long-lost, beloved QWERTY keyboard, paired with a sleek, 2.8” touch screen, with a full screen module also available. It’s modern, clean, and packed with all the essential tools and apps needed to stay connected and productive — and nothing that gets in the way. Three years ago, the vision was born: What if there was a phone that gives us back our life — instead of taking it away? Filling a major gap in the “basic phone” space, Keyphone merges the clarity and control of a basic phone with the design, speed, and connectivity of a modern device. It’s a phone that feels good in the hand, performs reliably, and fits seamlessly into daily life. Modular by design — flexible by nature: Keyphone introduces something entirely new: modular swappable parts. Want a better camera? Snap it on. Prefer a T9 keypad for simplicity? Switch it out. Need a full screen? Done. It’s as easy as snapping in a piece of LEGO But that’s not all — Keyphone is pioneering the world’s first “Standards” Revolution. Unlike filters or subscription-based tools that slow devices down or cost extra monthly fees, Keyphone’s modular design makes it possible to pre-configure custom standards for each kehilla, school, or organization. Here’s how it works: Each “Standard” — including approved apps, features, and limitations — is built directly into a camera module. When that module is clicked into the phone, the entire device is instantly and securely configured. No hassle. No need for external filtering. No workarounds. Just clean, custom technology that works right out of the box. Keyphone is now live on Indiegogo — and early access is limited. Pre-orders are open now at a special discounted early bird price, with estimated delivery in October 2025. By backing the campaign today, you’re not just reserving a device — you’re joining a movement toward cleaner, smarter, and more intentional technology.You’ll be among the first to experience a phone designed around your values, your lifestyle, and your needs — not the other way around. Quantities for this first production run are limited, and early orders help us scale faster and bring Keyphone to more communities worldwide. 🟦 Order now, join the revolution, and help shape the future of intentional communication.
A new poll by the Israel Democracy Institute has found that a large majority of Israeli Jews — including many traditional and even some Orthodox respondents — support imposing sanctions on chareidim who do not enlist in the IDF. According to the survey, 85% of non-chareidi Jews back measures that would penalize draft evasion. This includes a striking 98.5% of secular Israelis, 86% of traditional non-Orthodox Jews, and 65% of Orthodox Jews. While support for immediate sanctions is strongest among secular and left-leaning Israelis, the poll reveals significant backing even among right-wing voters. Among Likud supporters, 72.5% support sanctions, as do 76.5% of Religious Zionism voters. Among more centrist and left-wing parties, support is nearly unanimous: 94% of Blue and White–National Unity voters, 97% of Labor voters, 99% of Yesh Atid voters, and 100% of respondents identifying with Meretz and Yisrael Beytenu support some form of penalty. Interestingly, the poll also notes that 30% of Shas’s non-chareidi voters — a small segment of the party’s base — support applying sanctions. Among the general Jewish population, 69% say they favor immediate application of sanctions, while Orthodox respondents were more inclined to support a delayed approach. When asked about specific penalties: 73% of non-chareidi respondents support banning travel abroad for draft evaders, 71% favor financial penalties, 65% back withholding driver’s licenses, and 61.5% support revoking voting rights. Additional sanctions with broad support include 76% backing the cancellation of daycare subsidies for families of draft evaders, 75% supporting the removal of state funding from yeshivos whose talmidim avoid enlistment, Over 82% believe draft evaders should be denied public sector jobs and academic scholarships, and 85–86% say these individuals should be ineligible for government-subsidized housing or municipal tax discounts. Even within Likud — traditionally more aligned with chareidi interests — over half of voters support most of these sanctions, including 73% who say non-serving chareidim should lose access to property tax discounts and public transit subsidies. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
It might be hard to find someone to have your back in politics if you get caught lying about your life story, become one of a handful of people ever expelled from Congress and then are thrown into federal prison. But George Santos is no ordinary former politician. In a letter Monday, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene formally came to the aid of the disgraced ex-congressman with a request that his seven-year prison sentence be commuted, arguing that the length of the term represented “a grave injustice.” The plea, which was sent to a Justice Department pardon attorney, came less than two weeks after Santos began his sentence. “While his crimes warrant punishment, many of my colleagues who I serve with have committed far worse offenses than Mr. Santos yet have faced zero criminal charges,” Greene, a Georgia Republican, wrote without elaborating. “I strongly believe in accountability for one’s actions, but I believe the sentencing of Mr. Santos is an abusive overreach by the judicial system.” Republican President Donald Trump, in an interview with the conservative news outlet Newsmax last week, said no one has talked to him about taking action in Santos’ case, but added “that’s a long time” when told of the ex-congressman’s seven-year sentence. “He lied like hell,” Trump said. “And I didn’t know him but he was 100% for Trump.” Santos pleaded guilty last year to charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft following a damaging indictment that alleged he stole from political donors, paid for personal expenses with campaign contributions, lied to Congress and collected unemployment benefits while working. Santos was once heralded in the Republican Party for winning a perennially contested New York congressional seat covering parts of Queens and Long Island. However, it all began to unravel when it became clear that he fabricated much of his life story. At one point, he falsely claimed that his mother died in the 9/11 attacks. At another, he had to clarify that he was “Jew-ish,” not Jewish, when pressed about a claim that his grandparents had fled the Holocaust. The lies made him a political pariah before he even got to Washington. Once there, he survived two expulsion attempts before a scathing House ethics committee report in late 2023 sealed his fate. He was expelled from Congress after a vote later that same year, becoming the sixth member in the chamber’s history to be removed by colleagues. Santos, long a Trump loyalist, has been holding out hope that his support of the Republican president could result in a reprieve from his criminal sentence. In a dispatch from prison published Monday in the The South Shore Press, a newspaper on Long Island, Santos wrote, “It’s been just over a week now, but I can tell you this much: when people say ‘prison sucks,’ they aren’t just talking about the bars and the bunks.” “It’s not just the loss of freedom — it’s the erosion of your dignity. It’s realizing how many basic human rights we all take for granted on the outside.” (AP)
The New York Post is launching a California tabloid newspaper and news site next year, the company announced Monday, bringing an assertive, irreverent and conservative-friendly fixture of the Big Apple media landscape to the Golden State. In the process, it is creating a 21st-century rarity: a new American newspaper with a robust print edition. Adding another title to Rupert Murdoch ‘s media empire, The California Post is setting out to cover politics, local news, business, entertainment and sports in the nation’s most populous state, while drawing and building on the venerable New York paper’s national coverage. Plans for the Los Angeles-based paper call for a print edition seven days a week plus a website, social media accounts and video and audio pieces. “There is no doubt that the Post will play a crucial role in engaging and enlightening readers, who are starved of serious reporting and puckish wit,” Robert Thomson, chief executive of Post corporate parent News Corp., said in a statement. In typically brash and punchy Post fashion, he portrayed California as plagued by ”jaundiced, jaded journalism.” It enters at a bumpy moment for its industry However bold its intentions, the venture is being launched into a turbulent atmosphere for the news business, particularly for print papers. More than 3,200 of them have closed nationwide since 2005, according to figures kept by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. The online world spawned new information sources and influencers, changed news consumers’ tastes and habits and upended the advertising market on which newspapers relied. “While it’s true the media landscape is challenging, The New York Post has been finding success through its unique voice, editorial lens and quality coverage. That same formula is tailor-made for California,” said the New York Post Media Group. It includes the Post and some other media properties. California, with a population of nearly 40 million, still has hundreds of newspapers, including dailies in and around Los Angeles and other major cities. But the nation’s second-most-populous city hasn’t had a dedicated tabloid focused on regional issues in recent memory, according to Danny Bakewell, president of the Los Angeles Press Club. “It’s really an untested market here,” said Bakewell, who is editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Sentinel, a weekly focused on the city’s Black population. “L.A. is always ready for good-quality news reporting, and particularly in this moment when so many other papers are shrinking and disappearing, it could be a really unique opportunity.” The Post is a unique beast There is no U.S. newspaper quite like the 224-year-old New York Post. It was founded by no less a luminary than Alexander Hamilton, the country’s first treasury secretary, an author of the Federalist Papers, the victim of a duel at the hands of the vice president. Murdoch, News Corp.’s founder and now its chairman emeritus, bought the Post in 1976, sold it a dozen years later, then repurchased it in 1993. The Post is known for its relentless and skewering approach to reporting, its facility with sensational subject matter, its Page Six gossip column, and the paper’s huge and often memorable front-page headlines. At the same time, the Post is a player in both local and national politics. It routinely pushes, from the right, on “wokeness” and other culture-war pressure points, and it has broken such political stories as the Hunter Biden […]
Antisemitic hate crimes in New York City have declined in recent months compared to the same period last year, according to newly released data from the New York Police Department. In July 2025, police recorded 14 antisemitic incidents, down from 27 in July 2024. This marks the lowest monthly total since July of last year, when 11 incidents were reported. The trend continues a multi-month decline: in June, there were 31 reported antisemitic crimes, down from 42 in June 2024. In May, the NYPD recorded 24 incidents, a significant drop from 52 the previous year. April, however, saw an increase, with 41 reported antisemitic incidents compared to 29 in April 2024. Despite the recent declines, antisemitic crimes continue to represent the largest share of hate crimes in the city. According to NYPD figures, 345 antisemitic incidents have been reported in 2025 so far, accounting for approximately 54% of all hate crimes. City officials have made addressing antisemitism a policy priority. In recent months, Mayor Eric Adams launched the Office to Combat Antisemitism, which held its first official meeting last month. The initiative is aimed at coordinating city resources and community partnerships to address anti-Jewish hate. The issue has also become a focal point in the ongoing mayoral election campaign, with leading candidates presenting plans to combat antisemitism and hate crimes more broadly. Jewish community security officials have cautioned that the true number of incidents may be higher, as not all are reported to police. The NYPD continues to track and investigate bias-related crimes through its Hate Crimes Task Force. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The Israel Meteorological Service has issued a warning ahead of an intense and prolonged heat wave expected to sweep across the country. Forecasts indicate that beginning Thursday—and particularly over the weekend into early next week—Israel will face a major heat wave lasting around a week, with the peak expected from Friday through Sunday. Temperatures are projected to soar above the seasonal average for early August, with highs nearing 40°C (104°F) in the central highlands and Jerusalem and approaching 50°C (122°F) in the Jordan Valley and around the Dead Sea. In coastal and lowland areas, the combination of high heat and humidity will result in severe heat stress. The Meteorological Service has announced it will issue specific heat stress alerts later in the week. If temperatures do near the 50°C (122°F) mark in some regions, the national record for 2025 could be surpassed. The current high—47.3°C (117.1°F), recorded at Mt. Sodom on July 27—is already the third-highest temperature ever recorded in the Dead Sea area. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
In the first action of its kind, military police arrived overnight Monday, at 1 a.m., at the Haifa home of the parents of a newly married avreich in order to arrest him for draft-dodging. The attempted arrest was unsuccessful for undisclosed reasons. The incident marks the first time that the military police targeted the home of a ben yeshivah for draft dodging. Previous arrests of bnei yeshivos were carried out only after a ben yeshivah was arrested for other reasons, such as during a protest, or at Ben-Gurion Airport when trying to leave the country. According to sources familiar with the details, the arrest was part of a general operation to arrest draft dodgers and not an operation directed against bnei yeshivos. Nonetheless, the attempted arrest of an avreich symbolizes an escalation on the part of military authorities, who until now have not tried to arrest bnei yeshivos in their homes. A family member told Kikar HaShabbat, “The police arrived in the middle of the night with clear information that there was a deserter in the house and sought to arrest him. They, of course, did not succeed for reasons that do not need to be detailed, but they woke up his new wife during the search, who understandably was very stressed.” “He is an avreich who got married a little over a month ago and learned at a mainstream Litvish yeshiva. There was no special reason to arrest him. He submitted deferrals as usual—until the decision of the Gedolei Yisrael to refrain from reporting to draft centers. Apart from excessive motivation on the part of the military police, there was no real reason for the attempted arrest.” A senior activist on the recruitment issue told Kikar, “Indeed, the fateful moment of truth has arrived. This is not a young man who went to places he shouldn’t have…he simply was at his home, and the police came to arrest him—as they committed to, and it seems they are living up to it very well.” “He is currently being assisted by the Ezram U’Magenim organization, whose Rabbanim will consult Gedolei Yisrael today on what to do in the event that the military police broke the rules.” (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
The owners of the cargo ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge are suing the company that built the vessel, alleging negligence in the design of a critical switchboard on the ship. Grace Ocean Private and Synergy Marine PTE Ltd, the owners of the Dali, filed the lawsuit last week against Hyundai Heavy Industries in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “As a result of the defectively designed Switchboard, the Vessel suffered a power outage that led to the allision with the Key Bridge,” Grace Ocean Private alleges in the lawsuit. Hyundai Heavy Industries could not immediately be reached for comment. Court records in the case did not name legal representatives for Hyundai. Grace Ocean Private contends the switchboard was defectively designed in a manner that wiring connections were not secure. The defect, the company alleges, “caused the switchboard and the vessel to be unreasonably dangerous … when it left HHI’s control.” “HHI’s defective manufacture of the Switchboard and Vessel caused the signal wiring to come loose in normal operation, resulting in the power outage that led to the allision,” the lawsuit says. The Dali was leaving Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka on March 26 last year when its steering failed due to the power loss. It crashed into one of the bridge’s supporting columns, destroying the 1.6-mile span and killing six members of a roadwork crew. Baltimore’s port was closed for months, and increased traffic congestion remains a problem across the region. The Justice Department last year filed a lawsuit seeking to recover more than $100 million that the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the city’s port. The owner and manager of the cargo ship agreed to pay more than $102 million in cleanup costs to settle the lawsuit brought by the government. In that lawsuit, the Justice Department alleged the owner and manager of the cargo ship recklessly cut corners and ignored known electrical problems on the vessel. In particular, the Justice Department accused the ship owner of failing to address “excessive vibrations” that were causing electrical problems. The National Transportation Safety Board said in its preliminary report last year that the Dali experienced electrical blackouts about 10 hours before leaving the Port of Baltimore, and yet again shortly before it slammed into the bridge. Last week, Maryland officials visited the site where demolition crews are using giant saws, backhoes and other heavy equipment to remove large sections of the remaining pieces of the bridge. Its replacement is expected to open in 2028. (AP)
The monthly jobs report is already closely-watched on Wall Street and in Washington but has taken on a new importance after President Donald Trump on Friday fired the official who oversees it. Trump claimed that June’s employment figures were “RIGGED” to make him and other Republicans “look bad.” Yet he provided no evidence and even the official Trump had appointed in his first term to oversee the report, William Beach, condemned the firing of Erika McEntarfer, the director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics appointed by former President Joe Biden. The firing followed Friday’s jobs report that showed hiring was weak in July and had come to nearly a standstill in May and June, right after Trump rolled out sweeping tariffs. Economists and Wall Street investors have long considered the job figures reliable, with share prices and bond yields often reacting sharply when they are released. Yet Friday’s revisions were unusually large — the largest, outside of a recession, in five decades. And the surveys used to compile the report are facing challenges from declining response rates, particularly since COVID, as fewer companies complete the surveys. Nonetheless, that hasn’t led most economists to doubt them. “The bottom line for me is, I wouldn’t take the low collection rate as any evidence that the numbers are less reliable,” Omair Sharif, founder and chief economist at Inflation Insights, a consulting firm, said. Many academics, statisticians and economists have warned for some time that declining budgets were straining the government’s ability to gather economic data. There were several government commissions studying ways to improve things like survey response rates, but the Trump administration disbanded them earlier this year. Heather Boushey, a top economic adviser in the Biden White House, noted that without Trump’s firing of McEntarfer, there would be more focus on last week’s data, which points to a slowing economy. “We’re having this conversation about made-up issues to distract us from what the data is showing,” Boushey said. “Revisions of this magnitude in a negative direction may indicate bad things to come for the labor market.” Here are some things to know about the jobs report: Economists and Wall Street trust the data Most economists say that the Bureau of Labor Statistics is a nonpolitical agency staffed by people obsessed with getting the numbers right. The only political appointee is the commissioner, who doesn’t see the data until it’s finalized, two days before it is issued to the public. Erica Groshen, the BLS commissioner from 2013 to 2017, said she suggested different language in the report to “liven it up”, but was shot down. She was told that if asked to describe a cup as half-empty or half-full, BLS says “it is an eight ounce cup with four ounces of liquid.” The revised jobs data that has attracted Trump’s ire is actually more in line with other figures than before the revision. For example, payroll processor ADP uses data from its millions of clients to calculate its own jobs report, and it showed a sharp hiring slowdown in May and June that is closer to the revised BLS data. Trump and his White House have a long track record of celebrating the jobs numbers — when they are good. These are the figures Trump is attacking Trump has focused on the revisions to the May and June data, which on Friday were revised lower, with job gains in May reduced to […]
A Jewish passenger on an Iberia Airlines flight from Buenos Aires to Madrid received a kosher meal with the words “Free Palestine” written on the packaging, the Delegation of Argentine Jewish Associations (DAIA) reported on Tuesday evening. One Jewish passenger, Salvador Auday, received his food tray with the full words “Free Palestine,” and other Jewish passengers received trays with the initials “FP.” All were written with the same marker. Auday told the Argentine media that he reported the incident to the flight crew, and they were very apologetic. He said that he believes that the phrase may have been written by an employee of the food supplier rather than by a flight attendant, but he wants a full investigation of the incident. DAIA lambasted the “discriminatory” incident and contacted the aviation authorities demanding an explanation and immediate action against Iberia, which is Spain’s national airline and a member of the International Airlines Group (IAG) Iberia is the parent company of Vueling Airline, the low-cost Spanish airline that forcibly removed a group of Jewish teenagers from France from the plane in Spain last month solely because of their Jewish identity and brutally arrested their 21-year-old counselor, knocking her to the ground and handcuffing her, leaving her with physical injuries. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is working to de-escalate tensions between the US and Russia—with the knowledge of US President Donald Trump, sources close to Netanyahu told Kan News on Tuesday morning. According to the report, Netanyahu has been working intensively in recent weeks with Russia in an effort to reduce the current tension between the US and Russia over Putin’s insistence on continuing the war with Ukraine. The Prime Minister’s Office stated that Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation on Monday, the second discussion between the two leaders in the past week. However, not all of Netanyahu’s conversations with Putin in recent weeks were reported to the public. Due to the escalating tension between the two countries, Trump recently ordered the deployment of two US nuclear submarines to the region. Concurrently, two conversations took place between Netanyahu and Putin. Two sources in Netanyahu’s circle confirmed that Trump was briefed on the content of the conversations. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Shortly before the Israeli government finally ousted Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara from her position in a unanimous vote on Monday, Supreme Court justices made unusually harsh remarks against Baharav-Miara. According to a report by i24News legal analyst Avishai Grinzaig, the remarks were made during a Supreme Court hearing on a petition by the Choosing Life Forum, demanding that Baharav-Miara launch an investigation into sensitive security leaks that she has chosen to ignore. As is well-known, Baharav-Miara has engaged in a blatant process of selective judicial enforcement, aggressively pursuing petitions against coalition officials while ignoring petitions against opposition figures. During the hearing, Justice Yael Willner accused Baharav Miara of making intentionally false claims regarding the leak. Justice Noam Sohlberg blasted Baharav-Miara’s conduct, including her lack of substantive responses, her inaction, and her attempts to repeatedly postpone the hearing. “I don’t remember anything like this since I’ve been at the court,” he exclaimed. “What are you trying to hide?” “There is a serious issue here—not just anything but leaks on grave security matters. This is a serious matter. There’s an uneasy feeling, as if they’re hiding factual and legal details from us…avoiding an investigation of the leaks harms Israeli security,” Sohlberg said firmly. As per her usual conduct, Baharav-Miara chose not to respond to the report. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Israel’s government cabinet voted unanimously on Monday to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, citing a breakdown in trust and accusing her of obstructing key government decisions on political grounds. Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who led the effort, said the government had conducted a very lengthy process before reaching its decision, asserting that attempts were made to work with her cooperatively. Levin added that the attorney general had repeatedly interfered with the government’s agenda, blocking legislation, appointments, and executive actions. Baharav-Miara, who was slammed by government ministers for refusing to attend the meeting and defend her behavior, responded in a letter to ministers, claiming that the process was “unlawful and politically motivated.” Levin responded to the letter by highlighting Baharav-Miara’s contradictions, saying that she claimed in the letter that “there is good cooperation with the government” but later in the letter says that her legal opinions are routinely dismissed. “If there is ‘good cooperation,’ how can her opinions be ignored?” Levin questioned. “This claim of cooperation is nonsense. She has aligned with the opposition on every key legal and political issue—even on marginal matters like Bar Association membership fee laws.” Within hours of the dismissal, the High Court of Justice issued an emergency injunction freezing the government’s decision and barring it from appointing a replacement or altering the attorney general’s authority until a judicial review is conducted. The court ordered the government and Attorney General’s Office to submit their responses by Thursday and said a hearing will take place within 30 days, no later than September 4. In the meantime, Baharav-Miara remains in her role, and her legal opinions and prosecutorial authority continue to carry full legal weight. The court also warned against the government implementing the dismissal through indirect means, such as ceasing to invite her to cabinet meetings. The justices said that her removal cannot take effect until the court rules on the legality of the dismissal process itself. At the heart of the dispute is the government’s failure to form a legally mandated committee to carry out the dismissal. Israeli law requires a five-member panel—including a retired Supreme Court justice and former justice officials—to review any removal of an attorney general. The government said it was unable to form the panel because nearly all eligible former officials declined to participate, citing opposition to the move. Instead, the government created its own committee, led by Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
An intense police operation unfolded in Flatbush on Monday night after a man was robbed at knifepoint of his electric scooter around 9:30PM near Avenue M and East 17th Street. The victim’s call for help triggered a coordinated response from Flatbush Shomrim, Boro Park Shomrim, and the NYPD. The suspects fled the scene on a moped but crashed near Avenue O and East 7th Street. They then ran into a nearby residence known to authorities for gang activity. The NYPD’s 66th Precinct Commanding Officer Captain Kenneth Herrarte and Executive Officer Lawrence Wang responded to the scene along with the precinct’s Community Affairs Unit. A perimeter was quickly established, a drone was deployed, and officers made entry into the home. Both suspects were taken into custody. One of them later told officers that he had discarded the knife during the chase but was unsure of its exact location. THIS STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED ON THE FLATBUSH SCOOP STATUS CLICK HERE SIGN UP TO THE FLATBUSH SCOOP WHATSAPP STATUS TO BE INFORMED OF FLATBUSH NEWS IN LIVE TIME (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Archaeologists in Yerushalayim have uncovered a rare bronze coin minted by Jews in the final year before the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed. The discovery, announced Thursday by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), was made last week near the southwestern corner of Har Habayis, in an archaeological garden adjacent to the site where the Beis Hamikdash once stood. The coin—well-preserved despite the passage of two millennia—was struck during the fourth year of the Great Revolt against Rome, just months before the destruction of the Second Beis Hamikdash in the year 70 CE. On one side of the coin is a goblet alongside the inscription in ancient Lashon Hebrew: “LeGe’ulat Tzion”—“For the Redemption of Zion.” On the reverse appears a lulav and two esrogim, with the words “Year Four” inscribed—dating it unmistakably to the year immediately preceding the Churban. According to IAA Excavation Director Dr. Yuval Baruch, the shift in inscription from earlier coins that said “LeCheirut Zion” to this coin’s “Le’Ge’ulat Tzion” is not just linguistic. The coin tells of a transformation among the Jewish fighters in besieged Yerushalayim, as they moved from hopes of liberation to a broken-hearted tefillah for geulah. “It would seem that in the rebellion’s fourth year, the mood of the rebels now besieged in Jerusalem changed from euphoria and anticipation of freedom at hand, to a dispirited mood and a yearning for redemption,” Dr. Baruch explained. Esther Rakow-Mellet, one of the archaeologists who discovered the coin, said, “We waited anxiously for several days until it came back from cleaning, and it turned out to be a greeting from the Jewish rebels of the Year Four of the Great Revolt.” The timing of the find, just days before Tishah B’Av, made the moment especially poignant. “There is nothing more symbolic,” she added. The coin is being displayed for the first time this summer at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Yerushalayim, near the Israel Museum and the Bible Lands Museum. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
