Yeshiva World News

CHAOS IN THE KNESSET: After Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech, MK Gilad Kariv held up a map of nearby kibbutzim, shouting, “This is Ein Hashlosha, this is Nir Oz. Come look at the map.” Kariv was then removed from the session.

PM Bibi Netanyahu has confirmed in a Knesset speech that Mohammad Sinwar, Gaza’s top military commander, has been eliminated.

DOGE has now removed over 12.3 million Social Security accounts, belonging to individuals aged 120 and older.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it continues its operations today, distributing aid without incident in both sites that opened yesterday. “Across the two sites, approximately 14,550 food boxes have been distributed so far. Each box feeds 5.5 people for 3.5 days, totaling 840,262 meals,”

Telegram is partnering with xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, to integrate the Grok chatbot, enabling users to access advanced AI features within the app.

Top officials at the European Union’s executive commission says they’re pushing hard for a trade deal with the Trump administration to avoid a 50% tariff on imported goods. Trump had threatened to impose the tariffs on June 1, but has pushed back the deadline to July 9, repeating an oft-used tactic in his trade war. European negotiators are contending with Trump’s ever-changing and unpredictable tariff threats, but “still, they have to come up with something to hopefully pacify him,” said Bruce Stokes, visiting senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Stokes also sees more at play than just a disagreement over trade deficits. Trump’s threats “are rooted in frustration with the EU that has little to do with trade,’’ Stokes said. “He doesn’t like the EU. He doesn’t like Germany.” What exactly does Trump want? What can Europe offer? Here are the key areas where the two side are squaring off. Buy our stuff Over and over, Trump has bemoaned the fact that Europe sells more things to Americans than it buys from Americans. The difference, or the trade deficit in goods, last year was 157 billion euros ($178 billion). But Europe says that when it comes to services — particularly digital services like online advertising and cloud computing — the U.S. sells more than it buys and that lowers the overall trade deficit to 48 billion euros, which is only about 3% of total trade. The European Commission says that means trade is “balanced.” One way to shift the trade in goods would be for Europe to buy more liquefied natural gas by ship from the U.S. To do so, the EU could cut off the remaining imports of Russian pipeline gas and LNG. The commission is preparing legislation to force an end to those purchases — last year, some 19% of imports — by the end of 2027. That would push European private companies to look for other sources of gas such as the U.S. However the shift away from Russia is already in motion and that “has obviously not been enough to satisfy,” said Laurent Ruseckas, a natural gas markets expert at S&P Global Commodities Insights Research. The commission doesn’t buy gas itself but can use “moral suasion” to convince companies to turn to U.S. suppliers in coming years but “this is no silver bullet and nothing that can yield immediate results,” said Simone Tagliapietra, an energy analyst at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels. Europe could buy more from U.S. defense contractors as part of its effort to deter further aggression from Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, says Carsten Brzeski, global chief of macro at ING bank. If European countries did increase their overall defense spending — another of Trump’s demands — their voters are likely to insist that the purchases go to defense contractors in Europe, not America, said Stokes of the German Marshall Fund. One way around that political obstacle would be for U.S. defense companies to build factories in Europe, but “that would take time,” he said. The EU could also reduce its 10% tax on foreign cars— one of Trump’s long-standing grievances against Europe. “The United States is not going to export that many cars to Europe anyway … The Germans would be most resistant, but I […]

Date of the Siyum HaShas Announced

Twice a year, New Yorkers and visitors are treated to a phenomenon known as Manhattanhenge, when the setting sun aligns with the Manhattan street grid and sinks below the horizon framed in a canyon of skyscrapers. The event is a favorite of photographers and often brings people out onto sidewalks on spring and summer evenings to watch this unique sunset. The first Manhattanhenge of the year takes place Wednesday at 8:13 p.m., with a slight variation happening again Thursday at 8:12 p.m. It will occur again on July 11 and 12. Some background on the phenomenon: Where does the name Manhattanhenge come from? Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson coined the term in a 1997 article in the magazine Natural History. Tyson, the director of the Hayden Planetarium at New York’s American Museum of Natural History, said he was inspired by a visit to Stonehenge as a teenager. The future host of TV shows such as PBS’ “Nova ScienceNow” was part of an expedition led by Gerald Hawkins, the scientist who first theorized that Stonehenge’s mysterious megaliths were an ancient astronomical observatory. It struck Tyson, a native New Yorker, that the setting sun framed by Manhattan’s high-rises could be compared to the sun’s rays striking the center of the Stonehenge circle on the solstice. Unlike the Neolithic Stonehenge builders, the planners who laid out Manhattan did not mean to channel the sun. It just worked out that way. When is Manhattanhenge? Manhattanhenge does not take place on the summer solstice itself, which is June 20 this year. Instead, it happens about three weeks before and after the solstice. That’s when the sun aligns itself perfectly with the Manhattan grid’s east-west streets. Viewers get two different versions of the phenomenon to choose from. On May 28 and July 12, half the sun will be above the horizon and half below it at the moment of alignment with Manhattan’s streets, according to the Hayden Planetarium. On May 29 and July 11, the whole sun will appear to hover between buildings just before sinking into the New Jersey horizon across the Hudson River. Where can you see Manhattanhenge? The traditional viewing spots are along the city’s broad east-west thoroughfares: 14th Street, 23rd Street, 34th Street, 42nd Street and 57th Street. The farther east you go, the more dramatic the vista as the sun’s rays hit building facades on either side. It is also possible to see Manhattanhenge across the East River in the Long Island City section of Queens. Is Manhattanhenge an organized event? Manhattanhenge viewing parties are not unknown, but it is mostly a DIY affair. People gather on east-west streets a half-hour or so before sunset and snap photo after photo as dusk approaches. That’s if the weather is fine. There’s no visible Manhattanhenge on rainy or cloudy days, and both are unfortunately in the forecast this week. Do other cities have ‘henges’? Similar effects occur in other cities with uniform street grids. Chicagohenge and Baltimorehenge happen when the setting sun lines up with the grid systems in those cities in March and September, around the spring and fall equinoxes. Torontohenge occurs in February and October. But Manhattanhenge is particularly striking because of the height of the buildings and the unobstructed path to the Hudson. (AP)

MOVING: Dozens of European rabbanim sing Ani Maamin at the entrance to Auschwitz, where more than 1 million kedoshim were murdered during the Holocaust.

A suspicious package at the Israeli embassy in Paris led police to secure the surrounding area.

A major fire in Haifa has eight firefighting aircraft and ground crews battling flames in Ramot Sapir, with firefighters also deployed in Romema and Givat Zemer to protect homes.

A light aircraft with engine failure made an emergency landing near a beach in St. Petersburg, Russia, safely splashing down with no injuries reported.

Ryanair has removed all flights to Israel from its website until early August.

The IDF says dozens of targets were struck by the Israeli Air Force across the Gaza Strip in the past 48 hours. Among the targets was a rocket launcher used to fire projectiles at the Kissufim area and at troops operating in Gaza on Monday, the military says.

The IDF says a medical facility it set up in southern Syria, next to the Druze village of Hader, has so far treated over 500 Syrians. The “forward mobile triage” was established several weeks ago, amid the IDF’s ongoing operations in southern Syria, and is intended to treat Syrian Druze in the area, the military says.

The Women of the Wall group created a provocation on Wednesday morning, Rosh Chodesh Sivan, by trying to violate the law by bringing a Sefer Torah into the Kosel plaza. Members of the group argued with the usher, who upheld the law and refused to allow them entry.

The IDF hit Yemen’s Sanaa International Airport on Wednesday, retaliating against multiple Houthi ballistic missile attacks on Israel in the past week. Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that the Israeli Air Force destroyed the Houthis’ last remaining airplane at the airport, following several prior Israeli strikes on the same target in recent months.

A federal judge in New York has temporarily prevented President Donald Trump from retaliating against the state over its Manhattan congestion toll. Judge Lewis Liman on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order blocking the federal government from withholding federal funds or taking other punitive actions against the state at least until June 9 while he weighs a lawsuit the state has filed against the federal government to keep the toll in place. The toll on drivers entering the busiest part of Manhattan was approved under former President Joe Biden, but has been strongly opposed by Trump, a native New Yorker whose namesake Trump Tower and other properties are within the congestion zone. The Republican administration rescinded federal approval in February, prompting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency overseeing the tolls, to challenge the decision. In recent months, Trump officials have issued three ultimatums to New York, even threatening to pull funding and approvals for transportation projects. But New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has said the state will continue collecting the toll until a judge orders it to stop. The Democrat touted Tuesday’s ruling, which came after Liman heard arguments from both sides in Manhattan federal court, as a “massive victory” for New York commuters. “New Yorkers deserve to control our own traffic patterns, keep gridlock off our streets and protect our clean air,” Hochul said in a statement. “We need to make the massive investments necessary to support our transit system and prevent it from falling into disarray and disrepair. Congestion pricing is the right solution to get us there.” Halee Dobbins, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Transportation, said the administration will comply with the court order, stressing the judge’s decision is only temporary and not on the merits of the case itself. “We look forward to making our case in court against Hochul’s illegal tolls as we work to protect working-class Americans from being unfairly charged to go to work, see their families, or visit the city,” she said. The toll started in January and generally imposes $9 on drivers entering Manhattan south of Central Park, though it varies depending on the kind of vehicle and time of day. New York officials say the program is already helping to reduce traffic and will eventually pump billions of dollars into its subways, commuter trains and public buses. Suburban commuters have pushed back against the toll, though, because it comes on top of existing ones for crossing bridges and tunnels into the city. London, Stockholm and other big cities around the world have long had similar fees to reduce traffic congestion in their central business districts. (AP)

The State Department has halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students hoping to study in the U.S. while it prepares to expand the screening of their activity on social media, officials said. A U.S. official said Tuesday the suspension is intended to be temporary and does not apply to applicants who already had scheduled their visa interviews. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an internal administration document. A cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by The Associated Press says the State Department plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting. “Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consulate sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor visa appointment capacity” until the guidance is issued, the cable says. Asked about the suspension at a briefing Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the U.S. uses every available resource to vet people applying for visas. “We will continue to use every tool we can to assess who it is that’s coming here, whether they are students or otherwise,” Bruce said. The move, first reported by Politico, is the latest in the Trump administration’s crackdown on international students. Last week, the Trump administration revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, removing the college from the program that allows schools to sponsor foreign students for visas. That effort was quickly challenged in court and for now is blocked by a federal judge. This spring the administration also revoked the legal status of thousands of international students already in the country, leading some to leave the U.S. out of fear of deportation. After many students filed successful legal challenges, the administration said it was restoring the students’ legal status. But the government also expanded the grounds for terminating international students’ legal status going forward. President Donald Trump’s previous administration stepped up scrutiny of all visa applicants, introducing reviews of their social media accounts. The policy remained during President Joe Biden’s administration. An extended pause in scheduling student visas could lead to delays that may disrupt college, boarding-school or exchange students’ plans to enroll in summer and fall terms. A downturn in enrollment of international students could hurt university budgets. To make up for cuts in federal research funding, some colleges shifted to enrolling more international students, who often pay full tuition. (AP)