President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday he is choosing former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia to be ambassador to China. Trump said in a social media post that Perdue, a former CEO, “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China.” Perdue pushed Trump’s debunked lies about electoral fraud during his failed bid for Georgia governor. Perdue lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jon Ossoff four years ago and ran unsuccessfully in a primary against Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Economic tensions will be a big part of the U.S.-China picture for the new administration Trump has threatened to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders. The Chinese Embassy in Washington cautioned earlier this week that there will be losers on all sides if there is a trade war. “China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature,” embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu posted on X. “No one will win a trade war or a #tariff war.” He added that China had taken steps in the last year to help stem drug trafficking. It is unclear whether Trump will actually go through with the threats or if he is using them as a negotiating tactic. The tariffs, if implemented, could dramatically raise prices for American consumers on everything from gas to automobiles to agricultural products. The U.S. is the largest importer of goods in the world, with Mexico, China and Canada its top three suppliers, according to the most recent U.S. Census data. (AP)
The Adass Shul suffered extensive damage in an arson attack early Friday morning, an act Prime Minister Anthony Albanese denounced as antisemitic. As YWN reported, at approximately 4:10 a.m. local time, two individuals learning inside the shul heard banging at the door. Opening it to find out what the commotion was, two masked men stormed in, poured gasoline over the front of the shul and set it on fire. The fire prompted a massive response, with 60 firefighters and 17 trucks deployed to contain the blaze. Despite their efforts, the Shul sustained significant damage. So our readers understand, there are two Batei Midrashim in the Adass Shul. One is called the Ashkenaz Shul and the second is the Sefard Shul. The fire was in the Sefard Shul. Meanwhile, sources tell YWN that the Sifrei Torah located in the Ashkenaz Shul were not damaged and have been removed from the building. The Sifrei Torah in the Sefard Shul were in a fire-proof safe which authorities finally opened just two hours before Shabbos. The Sifrei Torah appear to be in decent conditon. Bichasdei Hashem, they were not burned, thanks to the safe. Some pairs of Tefillin were sadly destroyed, as were many Seforim. While investigators have not confirmed a motive, Prime Minister Albanese condemned the act, calling it a “shocking attack” on a place of worship. “An attack on a synagogue is, by definition, an act of antisemitism,” Albanese said, emphasizing that such violence has no place in Australia. Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan highlighted the Shul’s deep historical significance, noting it was built by Holocaust survivors and originally served immigrants from Hungary. Allan announced a $100,000 AUD grant to assist with repairs and promised increased police patrols in the area. The investigation continues as the community rallies to recover from this devastating act. PLEASE HELP REBUILD THE ADASS SHUL – CLICK HERE TO DONATE!
Waymo is gearing up to bring its robotaxi service to Miami which will accelerate an expansion that’s been happening while its hobbled rivals remain in its rearview mirror. As part of the road map unfurled Thursday, Waymo plans to begin testing its driverless Jaguars in Miami next year, giving the robotaxis time to learn their way around Florida’s biggest city before they start charging for rides in 2026. The move comes less than a month after Waymo opened up its robotaxi service to anyone looking for a ride in an 80-square-mile (129-square-kilometer) expanse in Los Angeles, extending its reach beyond its two major markets in Phoenix and San Francisco. Waymo also has plans to launch fleets in Atlanta and Austin next year as part of a partnership with the ride-hailing leader Uber. The growth spurred Waymo to team up with fleet management service Moove to oversee maintenance of its robotaxis in Phoenix, where it now operates about 200 vehicles. Moove also will help manage the company’s robotaxis in Miami. The steady expansion into new markets is starting to fulfill what once seemed like a fantastical dream when Google began a secret self-driving car project dubbed “Chauffeur” in 2009 that ultimately spun off as Waymo in 2016. Although Waymo is still piling up substantial losses under its corporate parent Alphabet Inc., the service now provides more than 150,000 weekly trips without any history of catastrophic traffic accidents. That track record has increased confidence that Waymo will be able to continue to steer its robotaxis into more markets and eventually produce a steady stream of profits — an expectation that helped it recently raise $5.6 billion from Alphabet and a list of other major investors. Meanwhile, robotaxi rival Cruise is still trying to recover from a grisly accident last year that culminated in one of its driverless cars in San Francisco dragging a jaywalking pedestrian who had been struck by a different car driven by a human. California regulators suspended Cruise’s license in the aftermath and its once-ambitious expansion plans have been scaled back by its corporate parent, automaker General Motors. Having periodically promised a fleet of Tesla robotaxis for nearly a decade, Tesla CEO Elon Musk renewed the pledge again in October when he predicted the electric carmaker’s “Cybercabs” will be on U.S. roads in 2026. (AP)
U.S. officials are warning smartphone users to limit texting in light of a massive cyberespionage campaign allegedly conducted by Chinese hackers, known as “Salt Typhoon.” The group has reportedly breached major telecom companies, including AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, compromising sensitive customer data in one of the largest intelligence leaks in U.S. history. The White House revealed Wednesday that at least eight major telecom networks have been infiltrated, with the attacks described as “ongoing and likely larger in scale than previously understood.” Cybersecurity experts are urging Americans to adopt more secure communication methods, such as encrypted messaging and voice services. “Encryption is your friend,” said Jeff Greene, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). “Even if the adversary intercepts the data, encryption makes it inaccessible.” The breached data reportedly includes call records, metadata, live calls, and law enforcement tracking systems, according to NBC News. Officials recommend using encrypted apps like WhatsApp or Signal, as standard texts between iPhones and Android devices remain vulnerable. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) highlighted the risks, warning that unless using specialized encryption apps, “anyone could be subject to review” by malicious actors. Investigations are ongoing, but authorities admit the full scope of the breach remains unclear. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
A video of an Iranian official warning about the military power of the IDF went viral, especially because the speaker, Madhi Afraaz, is a senior official at the Khomeini Policy Institute and is affiliated with the Iranian regime. His remarks spurred heated reactions on social media. “Our friends think that military action against Israel is a PlayStation game,” Afraaz began. “You have to understand that the military power of Israel is the military power of the West – it’s not a joke at all.” “Last year, one of our friends in Hezbollah told us: ‘You Iranians are ignorant about the power of Israel and you make a joke of it. And you see how Israel eliminates Hezbollah members before they even grasp what’s going on. Israel announces if the elimination was successful or not.” “The F-35 is something important in today’s world, it’s very important. Now Israel, in order to attack the Persian Gulf Star [Iran’s newest and most important oil refinery], which is one of its foremost targets [that if attacked, 70% of Iran’s gas stations will be out of use], Israel wouldn’t even need to enter Iran’s airspace. It could launch the bomb from the base in Bahrain and the bomb could fly 300 kilometers. That’s how Israel could directly attack Iran if we didn’t have air defense systems.” “We shouldn’t delude ourselves. Even when our inferior forces are so brazen and decide to attack Israel, it’s considered as ‘throwing your burden on G-d.'” “Tonight, our friends who are now in Syria called us. They told us that the displaced refugees [from Lebanon], the Shi’ites, those who support Hezbollah – who are now in hotels in Damascus – are cursing everyone – first of all Iran, and also others. Because their life, everything they had was destroyed.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, has triggered intense backlash among Democrats, with some threatening to withhold donations to the president’s future presidential library, Axios reported Thursday. Hunter Biden’s pardon, which contradicted the president’s repeated assurances that he would not pardon his son, has drawn mixed reactions within the Democratic Party. Some members feel betrayed by what they see as a broken promise. “If they had their [expletive] together, they would have been doing the work on this over the summer,” a well-connected Democrat told Axios, adding that the move has left many Democrats disillusioned. The controversy has fueled broader frustration with the president, now 82, as he nears the end of his term. Many Democrats blame him for what they call “selfish” decisions—first choosing to run for reelection, and now issuing a controversial pardon that they believe harms the party. Sources close to Biden’s family were reportedly surprised by the fierce backlash, expecting criticism but not the scale of discontent. “Even Biden’s best friends think it was nuts to pardon Hunter as a solo act,” one source said, noting it coincided with the president’s trip to Africa. The White House has signaled that more pardons may be issued before the end of Biden’s term. “You could expect more announcements, more pardons and clemency,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Efforts to reduce the nation’s persistently high maternal mortality rates involve state panels of experts that investigate and learn from each mother’s death. The panels — called maternal mortality review committees — usually do their work quietly and out of the public eye. But that’s not been the case recently in three states with strict abortion laws. Georgia dismissed all members of its committee in November after information about deaths being reviewed leaked to the news organization ProPublica. Days later, The Washington Post reported that Texas’ committee won’t review cases from 2022 and 2023, the first two years after the state banned nearly all abortions. In Idaho, the state let its panel disband in 2023 only to reinstate it earlier this year. “They’ve become more of a lightning rod than they were before,” said epidemiologist Michael Kramer, director of the Center for Rural Health and Health Disparities at Mercer University in Georgia. Here’s what maternal mortality review committees across the nation do and what might happen next: What are they? “Maternal mortality review committees are important because they are the most comprehensive source of information about maternal mortality that we have,” said David Goodman, who leads the maternal mortality prevention team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The panels review deaths that occur during pregnancy or within a year after it ends, whether directly related to the pregnancy or not. Causes of death can range from hemorrhage during childbirth to drug overdoses to traffic accidents. The goal, Kramer said, is to examine maternal deaths and help “decide what we can do about them.” All states, a few cities and Puerto Rico have these committees. Their membership varies and may include OB-GYNs, maternal-fetal medicine doctors, nurses, midwives, mental and public health experts and members of patient advocacy groups. Most have representatives from several areas of expertise, which the CDC recommends. How members are selected also varies; people may apply, submit letters of interest or be invited to serve. The selection shouldn’t be politically motivated, Kramer said, because “if there’s a systematic exclusion of certain data or certain perspectives” it’s difficult to truly understand what’s happening. How do they look at deaths? First, the panels work with state vital statistics offices and epidemiologists to identify deaths associated with pregnancy by examining death certificates and looking for a pregnancy checkbox or a related cause of death. They may also search for links to birth and fetal death records, or delve into hospital discharge data, media reports and obituaries. Once they identify cases, they collect as much information as possible, such as prenatal care records, hospital and social service records, autopsy reports and interviews with family members. Professional “abstractors” distill all this into case narratives, which committee members pore over. Most use a standardized review process developed by the CDC — and all panels can get help and guidance from the agency. They consider questions such as: Was the death pregnancy-related? What was the underlying cause? Was it preventable? What factors contributed? States generally have privacy rules that protect committee members and people who provide information on the deaths. The groups then issue public reports that don’t name moms or hospitals but include overall findings, trends and recommendations. Some come out a couple of years or more after the deaths. Across the nation in 2023, Goodman said, 151 […]
At the conclusion of the Shiva for Rabbi Zvi Kogan HY’D seed funding was announced for one hundred new Chabad centers in underserved areas, transforming grief into action in response to the recent tragedy. The major expansion, announced at the end of Rabbi Kogan’s Shiva, the Chabad Shliach who was brutally targeted and murdered by terrorists in Abu Dhabi, directly embodies The Rebbe’s longstanding philosophy of responding to darkness by increasing light. Keren Hashluchim will provide seed funding for fifty initial centers, with an additional fifty to be announced in the coming months. “When the most heinous evildoers want us to cower in fear, The Rebbe taught us that strong positive action is the only response,” said Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, director of the International Conference of Shluchim and Keren Hashluchim, “By supporting new centers in locations near and far, we honor Rabbi Kogan’s memory and fulfill the Rebbe’s vision of transforming grief into action.” This initiative to establish one hundred new Chabad centers was one of the last undertaken by Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky OB”M,—who was known for his expansive commitments to fulfill the Rebbe’s vision—before his passing. The commitment is now being realized by his son and successor Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, leading the mission to expand Chabad’s global reach. Rabbi Kotlarsky announced it at the end of the seven days of mourning for Rabbi Kogan, as a powerful response to the Abu Dhabi terror attack. “May the family of Rabbi Kogan, along with the entire Jewish community, find comfort during these difficult times,” said Rabbi Kotlarsky. “Together, we will continue to spread goodness and kindness, and may we only share positive news going forward.” The Rebbe’s response to past tragedies, such as the Kfar Chabad massacre in 1956, was to urge his followers to redouble their efforts in building Jewish life. This philosophy is being put into practice once again as Chabad extends its presence to new locations, including: Algarve, Portugal: Along the picturesque coast, a new center will cater to the growing Jewish community and tourists in southern Portugal. “Opening a Chabad center in Southern Portugal is a dream come true,” said Rabbi Menachem Wagner, who will build a Jewish presence in Southern Portugal together with his wife Chana. “We are committed to bringing the warmth of Jewish tradition to this unique community, embodying the Rebbe’s mission of reaching every Jew, no matter where they are.” Andorra: Nestled in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, Andorra will now have its first full-time Rabbi and Rebbetzin, providing Jewish residents and tourists access to religious services, education, and community events. Tatarstan: In the heart of Russia, Chabad is establishing a new center in Tatarstan, reaching out to a community rich in history and culture. Rabbi Kotlarsky noted that Chabad remains open to new partners in their endeavor to spearhead Jewish life and community in all corners of the globe. Committed to continued growth and outreach, the organization partners with donors and foundations from all over the international Jewish community. The Fifty New Shluchim: CKids: Rabbi Dovid and Rivki Gershovitz in Chesterfield, MO. Rabbi Muleh and Esther Itkin at Santa Fe Jewish Center – Chabad. Rabbi Levi and Rochel Schtroks at Chabad of Eastern Queens. Rabbi Levi and Chaya Weg at Chabad of Raleigh NC Rabbi Eliyahu and Chani Elyovics in […]
