As reported by YWN earlier this week, a disturbing video surfaced showing two individuals on a motorcycle swiping a yarmulke off the head of a Jewish man crossing a Staten Island street. The footage, initially shared by Staten Island Shomrim, captured the brazen act, with the riders speeding away after their offensive behavior. The Shomrim group posted the video on X (formerly Twitter), calling on the public to assist in identifying the suspects. “Help us apprehend these individuals. Wanted for a despicable act of pushing a Kippah off a Jewish man’s head,” their statement read. They urged anyone with information to contact the NYPD’s 121st Precinct Detective Squad or the Shomrim hotline. On Friday, November 15, at approximately 1:15 PM, Staten Island Shomrim received a critical tip from a concerned mother. Her son, who was on the boardwalk along Capodanno Boulevard, recognized two individuals matching the description of the suspects highlighted in Shomrim’s earlier alerts. The NYPD’s 122nd Precinct was immediately notified, and officers swiftly responded to the scene alongside other units. NYPD’s Staten Island Warrant Squad also joined the effort after hearing the call on police radio. The Warrant Squad spotted the suspects on the boardwalk and coordinated a large-scale response to block all escape routes. Within minutes, at approximately 1:30 PM, the two individuals were taken into custody. Further investigation revealed that the suspects were wanted for multiple other crimes, including a stabbing , in addition to the hate crime targeting the Jewish man in the Willowbrook area. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the U.S. intelligence services, in 2022 endorsed one of Russia’s main justifications for invading Ukraine: the existence of dozens of U.S.-funded biolabs working on some of the world’s nastiest pathogens. Moscow claimed Ukraine was using the labs to create deadly bioweapons similar to COVID-19 that could be used against Russia, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin had no choice but to invade neighboring Ukraine to protect his country. In fact, the labs are public and part of an international effort to control outbreaks and stop bioweapons. Gabbard, a military veteran and a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, later said she wasn’t accusing the United States or Ukraine of anything nefarious and was just voicing concerns about protecting the labs. But to critics in the U.S., including lawmakers in both parties, the comments showed a disturbing willingness to parrot Russian propaganda — a tendency that has earned Gabbard praise on Russian state TV. Gabbard’s past comments supportive of Russia — as well as secret meetings with Syria’s president, a close ally of Russia and Iran — are attracting fresh scrutiny from Democrats and national security analysts who fear that as Trump’s director of national intelligence she could give Russia a major win, undercut Ukraine, weaken U.S. national security and endanger intelligence ties with allies. “Gabbard, like Gaetz, is like a hand grenade ready to explode,” former Trump national security adviser John Bolton said, speaking of Matt Gaetz, the former Florida congressman who is Trump’s pick for attorney general. “Republicans who throw themselves on those grenades for Donald Trump are risking their own personal reputations and places in history.” Gabbard says American assistance for Ukraine jeopardizes global security by antagonizing Russia. She has criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as corrupt and has expressed sympathy for Russia’s position, given Ukraine’s desire to join NATO, the Western military alliance. “This war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns,” she posted on Twitter at the start of Russia’s invasion in 2022. Democrats say Gabbard’s comments signify a pro-Russian bent that poses a problem for U.S. national security if she is confirmed by the Senate. “Do you really want her to have all of the secrets of the United States and our defense intelligence agencies when she has so clearly been in Putin’s pocket?” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said on MSNBC. “That just has to be a hard no.” The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to coordinate the nation’s intelligence agencies and act as the president’s main intelligence adviser. Gabbard and the Trump transition team did not respond to questions seeking comment. She has in the past defended her actions and said her military service — she has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades and deployed to Iraq and Kuwait — has made her skeptical about military interventions. Gabbard also has defended Trump’s relationship with autocrats such as Putin, saying it shows Trump has “the courage to meet with adversaries, dictators, allies and partners alike in the pursuit of peace, seeing war as a last resort.” Gabbard’s own meetings with Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2017 angered many of her then-fellow Democrats. They […]
by Rabbi Yair Hoffman (yairhoffman2@gmail.com) It was an extremely emotional levaya because he was so beloved. The levaya began with essah ainay. Then mimaamakim Rav Moshe Brown shlita spoke first. Many years ago, he remembered in Baltimor, the RY had a picture of Rav Hutner on the wall of his foyer. RMB asked why does he give a krechtz everytime he passes? Rabbi Kalish, when he was very young, the trajectory in his life was to a baki beshas. There are people here that knew him from HILI. A baki beshas, who was marbitz Torah beRabbim, who worked on middos – he became an ish nichbad me’od me’od The Gemorah in Yuma says that the Name of Hashem should be beloved by your actions. And beside that he must be involved with the brios. It doesn’t come to Hashem being lived – unless he is beloved. When people do that people say “Praised is his father that taught him Torah. We saw the heiliger niftar – not only did he know shas – but he was beloved by the brios. His parents, for years took enormous pride in the KH he was making. I have this image of Rav Elya Svei saying, “Ah mein Talmid.” I don’t think in all the years – I never saw him get angry. You want to say the truth and not be megazem. His midos taovos that are there to complement. The harbatzas Torah is something we should all learn from. Avrohom Avinu says to Hashem – Chalilah lecha to do something improper. Avrohom is davening for the people who stood for the opposite of what he stood for. Why? For the dor haflaga he was not melamed zchus – but here by sdom he did. The explanation is that in between, Avrohom Avinu became the Av of all mankind – av hamon goyim. The older people who have life experience they have only good things to say. In being maspid. Rav Yehoshua zatzal, It would be very difficult to find st negative he would have said. The next speaker was Rabbi Kalish’s brother, Reb Aharon. It is very hard to speak about my brother. Everything that was said about Avrohom Avinu in the parsha applied to my brother. Another thing that never left him was his simchas hachaim. He loved other yidden His two sons spoke next. Reb Moshe, You started in Yerushalayim – Rav Nochum was your Rebbe In BMG you learned 12 hours a day in Kollel.. maisim lailos kayamim Then came YFR you loved every talmid as a child.. Then came Harborview.. How many almanos and yesomos did you help! Then came the Kollel – you loved learning and teaching halacha l’maaseh. Abba, you were such a giant. You finisged shas 40 times.. you were so down to earth. You were not only my father and rebbe – you were my friend.. The last time we spoke you said I love you.. Abba I love you forever Rav Meir SImcha spoke next Abba! We miss you so much! I remember when you eulogized Mr. Rapp you cried and asked Who will replace him? Abba who will replace your Torah! Who will replace your chessed?! Your favorite Gemorah was Baitzah.. Finished it 100 times.. You always quoted that there is a […]
The IDF announced that two soldiers were killed in combat this morning in the northern Gaza Strip. The fallen soldiers were identified as: Captain Yogev Pazy, 22, from Giv’ot Bar, who served as a platoon commander. Staff Sergeant Noam Eitan, 21, from Hadera. Both soldiers were members of the Kfir Brigade’s Nachshon Battalion. The IDF reported that another soldier from the same battalion sustained serious injuries during the incident and is currently receiving medical treatment. The IDF expressed condolences to the families of the fallen soldiers and reaffirmed its commitment to supporting them during this difficult time. Further details about the circumstances of the incident that caused the deaths were not immediately disclosed. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Armed neo-Nazis marched through the Short North neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday afternoon, shouting racial slurs, antisemitic rhetoric, and promoting white supremacist ideologies. The march, which began around 1:15 p.m., involved about a dozen individuals dressed in black clothing, wearing red facemasks, and carrying black flags emblazoned with swastikas. Videos circulating on social media captured the group shouting hateful slogans, including white supremacist chants and slurs directed at people of color. Police responded to a report of the group allegedly spraying mace or pepper spray at a passerby, as well as callers reporting the group was armed. Officers were dispatched to the area of North High Street and East Lincoln Street at approximately 1:20 p.m., according to Columbus Police Sgt. Joe Albert. When police arrived, the group dispersed without further incident. Community leaders and officials swiftly condemned the group’s actions. Lee C. Shapiro, regional director of the American Jewish Committee, decried the demonstration as a “vile display of hate.” “This is another sad example of the bigotry that we have witnessed across the country,” Shapiro said. “We cannot allow agitators to stoke fear in a city where diversity and tolerance is one of its hallmarks. Hate has no place in Columbus. Not now, not ever.” Ohio Governor Mike DeWine also issued a strong statement against the march. “There is no place in this state for hate, bigotry, antisemitism, or violence. Neo-Nazis — their faces hidden behind red masks — roamed streets in Columbus today, carrying Nazi flags and spewing vile and racist speech against people of color and Jews,” DeWine said. Note: The video below contains unsavory language. View at your own discretion. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The 2024 presidential election featured sky-high turnout, approaching the historic levels of the 2020 contest and contradicting long-held conventional political wisdom that Republicans struggle to win races in which many people vote. According to Associated Press elections data, more than 152 million ballots were cast in this year’s race between Republican Donald Trump, now the president-elect, and Democrat Kamala Harris, the vice president, with hundreds of thousands of more still being tallied in slower-counting states such as California. When those ballots are fully tabulated, the number of votes will come even closer to the 158 million in the 2020 presidential contest, which was the highest turnout election since women were given the right to vote more than a century ago. “Trump is great for voter turnout in both parties,” said Eitan Hersh, a political scientist at Tufts University. The former president’s victory in both the Electoral College and popular vote — Trump currently leads Harris by nearly 3 million votes nationwide — also contradicts the belief in politics that Democrats, not Republicans, benefit from high-turnout elections. Trump himself voiced it in 2020 when he warned that a Democratic bill to expand mail balloting would lead to “levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.” That warning came as Trump began to sow conspiracy theories about using mail voting during the coronavirus pandemic, which he then used to falsely claim his 2020 loss was due to fraud. That claim led to a wave of new laws adding regulations and rolling back forms of voting in GOP-controlled states and an expansion of mail voting in Democratic-led ones, as the battle over turnout became a central part of political debate. Such laws usually have a miniscule impact on voting but inspired allegations of voter suppression from Democrats and cheating from Republicans. “It’s such an embarrassing story for proponents on both sides, because it’s so obviously wrong,” Hersh said. Though both sides are likely to continue to battle over how elections are run, Trump’s high-turnout victory may take some of the urgency out of that confrontation. “Now I think, you just won the popular vote, I think it’ll quiet down,” said Patrick Ruffini, a Republican data analyst and pollster who has long argued his party can succeed in a high-turnout election with a diverse electorate. Experts note that turnout in the seven swing states at the heart of the election was even higher than in the rest of the country. “This was a campaign in seven states much more so than previous elections have felt like,” Ruffini said. While the rest the country shifted significantly from 2020, when Democrat Joe Biden won the popular vote by 7 million, or 4.5 percentage points, the outcome in the swing states was closer. The turnout story also was different. Turnout dropped from 2020 in noncompetitive states such as Illinois, which recorded more than 500,000 fewer votes than in the last presidential election, and Ohio, which reported more than 300,000 less. Meanwhile, the number of votes cast topped those in 2020 in the battleground states of Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all of which Trump won. Arizona’s turnout was nearly even with four years ago, as the state continued to count ballots. Harris […]
Three daughters of Malcolm X have accused the CIA, FBI, the New York Police Department and others in a $100 million lawsuit Friday of playing roles in the 1965 assassination of the civil rights leader. In the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, the daughters — along with the Malcolm X estate — claimed that the agencies were aware of and were involved in the assassination plot and failed to stop the killing. At a morning news conference, attorney Ben Crump stood with family members as he described the lawsuit, saying he hoped federal and city officials would read it “and learn all the dastardly deeds that were done by their predecessors and try to right these historic wrongs.” The NYPD and CIA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice, which was also sued, declined comment. The FBI said in an email that it was its “standard practice” not to comment on litigation. For decades, more questions than answers have arisen over who was to blame for the death of Malcolm X, who was 39 years old when he was slain on Feb. 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom on West 165th Street in Manhattan as he spoke to several hundred people. Born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska, Malcolm X later changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. Three men were convicted of crimes in the death but two of them were exonerated in 2021 after investigators took a fresh look at the case and concluded some evidence was shaky and authorities had held back some information. In the lawsuit, the family said the prosecution team suppressed the government’s role in the assassination. The lawsuit alleges that there was a “corrupt, unlawful, and unconstitutional” relationship between law enforcement and “ruthless killers that went unchecked for many years and was actively concealed, condoned, protected, and facilitated by government agents,” leading up to the murder of Malcolm X. According to the lawsuit, the NYPD, coordinating with federal law enforcement agencies, arrested the activist’s security detail days before the assassination and intentionally removed their officers from inside the ballroom where Malcolm X was killed. Meanwhile, it adds, federal agencies had personnel, including undercover agents, in the ballroom but failed to protect him. The lawsuit was not brought sooner because the defendants withheld information from the family, including the identities of undercover “informants, agents and provocateurs” and what they knew about the planning that preceded the attack. Malcolm X’s wife, Betty Shabazz, the plaintiffs, “and their entire family have suffered the pain of the unknown” for decades, the lawsuit states. “They did not know who murdered Malcolm X, why he was murdered, the level of NYPD, FBI and CIA orchestration, the identity of the governmental agents who conspired to ensure his demise, or who fraudulently covered-up their role,” it states. “The damage caused to the Shabazz family is unimaginable, immense, and irreparable.” The family announced its intention to sue the law enforcement agencies early last year. (AP)
Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party’s prodigious fundraising operation raised more than $1 billion in her loss to Donald Trump, but the vice president is still pushing donors for more money after the election. Democrats are sending persistent appeals to Harris supporters without expressly asking them to cover any potential debts, enticing would-be donors instead with other matters: the Republican president-elect’s picks for his upcoming administration and a handful of pending congressional contests where ballots are still being tallied. “The Harris campaign certainly spent more than they raised and is now busy trying to fundraise,” said Adrian Hemond, a Democratic strategist from Michigan. He said he was been asked by the campaign after its loss to Trump to help with fundraising. The party is flooding Harris’ lucrative email donor list with near-daily appeals aimed at small-dollar donors — those whose contributions are measured in the hundreds of dollars or less. But Hemond said the postelection effort also includes individual calls to larger donors. The scramble now underscores the expense involved in a losing effort and the immediate challenges facing Democrats as they try to maintain a baseline political operation to counter the Trump administration and prepare for the 2026 midterm elections. It also calls into question how Democrats used their resources, including hosting events with musicians and other celebrities as well as running ads in a variety of nontraditional spaces such as Las Vegas’ domed Sphere. Internally, the apparent cash crunch is being blamed for the campaign’s decision to stop paying many senior staff as of Saturday, even those initially told they would be paid through the end of the year. Facing internal frustration, the campaign notified those affected in recent days that their health insurance would be covered through the end of the year, according to one person with direct knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to share internal discussions. Another person familiar with the fundraising effort and the Democratic National Committee’s finances said the Harris campaign’s expected shortfall is a relatively small sum compared to the breadth of the campaign, which reported having $119 million cash on hand in mid-October before the Nov. 5 election. That person was not authorized to publicly discuss the campaign’s finances and spoke on condition of anonymity. Patrick Stauffer, chief financial officer for the Harris campaign, said in a statement that “there were no outstanding debts or bills overdue” on Election Day and there “will be no debt” listed for either the campaign or the DNC on their next financial disclosures, which are due to the Federal Election Commission in December. The person familiar with the campaign and DNC’s finances said it was impossible to know just where Harris’ balance sheet stands currently. The campaign still is getting invoices from vendors for events and other services from near the end of the race. The campaign also has outstanding receipts; for example, from media organizations that must pay for their employees’ spots on Air Force Two as it traveled for the vice president’s campaign activities. Within hours of Trump picking Florida Republican Matt Gaetz for attorney general on Wednesday, Harris’ supporters got an appeal for more money for “the Harris Fight Fund,” citing the emerging Trump team and its agenda. Gaetz, who resigned his House seat after the announcement, “will […]
by Rabbi Yair Hoffman Rav Leib Bakst zatzal (1918-2004) was an Alter Mirrer who was an outstanding Talmid Chochom and gadol who was rosh yeshivah of Yeshivas Beis Yehudah in Detroit. He taught thousands of talmidim, and now, Boruch Hashem, a new sefer on his Chidushei Torah has just been released. I would like to thank Reb Avrohom Applebaum, a father of one of my students for bringing me a copy. Rav Bakst was born in Doltish, Lithuania, to Rabbi Yaakov Yehoshua who perished in the Holocaust hy”d. He studied at the Mir Yeshiva in Mir, Poland and later during its exile in Vilna and Shanghai during World War II. He was close to both the Mir Rosh Yeshiva Rav Laizer Yehuda Finkel zt”l and also studied under in the Mir’s famed Mashgiach – Rav Yerucham Leibowitz zt”l for six years. In 1946, after the war, he married the daughter of Rav Mordechai Rogov, the author of “Ateret Mordechai,” who had studied at the Mir and Volozhin yeshivas. From his Mussar shmuessim, his talmidim compiled the sefer “Kol Aryeh.” While in Shanghai, Rav Bakst suffered a burst appendix and hovered between life and death. Later, after he recovered – he reprinted in Shanghai the classic Mussar Sefer Tomer Devorah by the great Tzfas kabbalist Rav Moshe Cordevero. Rav Bakst zatzal was a close friend of one of my Rebbeim, Rav Dovid Kviat zatzal, and I consider it a kavod to be able to present just a glimpse of him to others. The following was culled from the new sefer’s hakdamah: These chiddushim are mostly from writings found in the Rosh yeshiva’shouse, besides those that were already printed in various places around the world..After many years of requests regarding the publication of a book with his Torah insights, and after the completion of the work and its arrangement into a proper manuscript, his students will surely guard and preserve our Rosh yeshiva’s memory of blessed memory. We hope it will be beneficial to the world of Torah study and increase Torah knowledge and its illumination. “The Vilna Gaon in his commentary on Mishlei on the pasuk of ‘Shlomo son of David, King of Israel,’ writes that ‘when someone sees a sefer, they need to know who the author is, for if the author is a great sage, trustworthy in his wisdom, as Rashi was in his books, then in Creation and in Torah etc.’ Therefore, in the book’s introduction, it seems appropriate to strive to preserve something of our Rosh yeshiva’s character traits of blessed memory in a faithful way. At the beginning of our work on the book, one of our Rosh yeshiva’s close students told us – ‘How can you describe our Rosh yeshiva through the publication of a book of his teachings, when whoever says “This is him” limits him? The Man and His Character Indeed, whoever saw our Rosh yeshiva witnessed a vision of grace and fullness of wisdom and Mussar. Though young in days, he possessed ancient wisdom, like a flowing spring. All who approached holiness desired to be near him and cling to his teachings. In his pure way of life, whether in formal work or casual encounters, people’s souls yearned to draw close and learn from him. He had a remarkable ability to connect […]
Over the past two weeks, the political landscape around the negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza have undergone a dramatic transformation. The American elections, the firing of Israel’s popular defense minister, Qatar’s decision to suspend its mediation, and the ongoing war in Lebanon all seem to have pushed the possibility for a cease-fire in Gaza further away than it has been in more than a year of conflict. Still, some families of the dozens of hostages who remain captive in Gaza are desperately hoping the changes will reignite momentum to bring their loved ones home — though the impact of Donald Trump returning to the White House and a hard-line new defense minister in Israel remains unknown. “I think maybe there is new hope,” said Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, 20, a soldier kidnapped from his base on the Gaza border during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Alexander’s parents, Adi and Yael Alexander, who live in New Jersey, met this week with Trump and President Joe Biden in Washington and pleaded with them to work together to bring all the hostages home in a single deal. “As a grandmother, I say, cooperate — Trump wants peace in this region, Biden has always said he wants to release the hostages, so work together and do something important for the lives of human beings,” Ben Baruch said. She said neither leader offered specific details or plans for releasing the hostages or restarting negotiations for a Gaza cease-fire. Talks have hit a wall in recent months, largely over Hamas’ demands for guarantees that a full hostage release will bring an end to Israel’s campaign in Gaza and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vows to continue fighting until Hamas is crushed and unable to rearm. “We’re not involved in politics, not American and not Israeli, the families are above politics, we just want our loved ones home,” she said. “Edan was kidnapped because he was Jewish, not because he voted for a certain party.” More than 250 people were kidnapped and 1,200 killed when Hamas terrorists burst across the border and carried out a bloody attack on southern Israeli communities. As terrorists attacked on the morning of Oct. 7, Edan Alexander, then 19, was able to send a quick message to his mother amid the intense fighting around his base. He told her that despite having shrapnel embedded in his helmet from the explosions, he had managed to get to a protected area. After 7 a.m., his family lost contact. Alexander was considered missing as the family desperately searched hospitals for him. After five days, friends recognized him in a video of Hamas terrorists capturing soldiers. The family was happy: He was alive, Ben Baruch said. “But we didn’t understand what we were entering into, what is still happening now.” When a week-long cease-fire last November brought the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners, some of the freed hostages said they had seen Alexander in captivity. Ben Baruch said they told her Alexander kept his cool, encouraging them that everyone would be released soon. Ben Baruch said she was disheartened when Netanyahu last week fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who she said had consistently reassured the families that the hostages were at the top […]
An Israeli airstrike in central Beirut targeted a building in the Ras al-Naba’a neighborhood, killing Hezbollah’s media relations chief, Mohammed Afif. The information was confirmed by two Lebanese security sources to Reuters. The strike, which occurred outside Hezbollah’s traditional stronghold in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, marks a significant shift in Israel’s targeting strategy. The densely populated Ras al-Naba’a neighborhood is not typically associated with Hezbollah activity, making the attack particularly striking. According to the sources, the IDF carried out the operation without issuing any prior evacuation warnings, a move that deviates from its usual protocol in such strikes. The IDF has not yet commented on the incident, and the broader implications of this targeted strike remain unclear. Mohammed Afif was a prominent figure within Hezbollah, known for shaping its media strategy and serving as a key spokesperson for the terrorist organization. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The IDF sent 1,000 of 7,000 draft orders to Bnei Yeshivos on Sunday following Attorney-General Gali Baharav Miara’s order last week. The Chareidi Yated Ne-eman newspaper published a front-page article reiterating the instructions of the Gedolim to bnei yeshivos to ignore the draft orders. The article stated that bnei yeshivos “should act according to the instructions in HaGaon HaRav Landau’s letter and as was clarified in a chizzuk talk at Yeshivas Mir: ‘The matter is clear. We know full well that no ben yeshivah or avreich will go to the army under any circumstances or in any manner.’ The Chassidish Mevaser newspaper on Sunday slammed newly appointed Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, who didn’t cancel the 7,000 draft orders that were approved by former defense minister Yoav Gallant, like the Chareidi parties were hoping. However, it should be noted that it is unclear if Katz had the authority to cancel the orders, which were approved by Gallant following the order of Baharav-Miara. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
As President-elect Donald Trump makes a flurry of choices to fill out his incoming administration’s Cabinet, the lobbying for key positions has been fierce behind closed doors — and sometimes publicly. Now billionaire and key Trump ally Elon Musk is calling for more direct public input into the decision-making process for at least one top post: the head of the Treasury Department. “Would be interesting to hear more people weigh in on this for @realDonaldTrump to consider feedback,” Musk, who Trump has already tapped to co-lead a commission tasked with increasing government spending efficiency, posted Saturday on the X social media platform he owns. Musk then used the rest of his post to become the first participant in the public poll he was proposing. He endorsed Howard Lutnick, the CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald and co-chair of Trump’s transition team ahead of Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, 2025, over hedge fund manager Scott Bessent. Musk said in his post that “Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas @howardlutnick will actually enact change.” “Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change,” he said. Both Lutnick and Bessent have been mentioned as possible picks to lead the Treasury Department. Bessent is considered the more conventional, business-friendly choice. He is skeptical about cryptocurrency, while Lutnick has suggested it could be used for people to pay their taxes. A short time later, Trump’s pick to lead his Health and Human Services Department, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also endorsed Lutnick, posting on his own X account, “Bitcoin is the currency of freedom, a hedge against inflation for middle class Americans.” “Bitcoin will have no stronger advocate than Howard Lutnik,” he wrote, misspelling Lutnick’s last name. Trump has already announced many picks in recent days, including his choice for Secretary of State, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and attorney general, former Florida Rep . Matt Gaetz. Treasury is the most important slot he has left to fill, but he’s also yet to announce choices for others, including the heads of the Education and Labor Departments — as well as Treasury — and many leading possibilities have been jockeying to improve their standing with Trump. Musk’s post came as Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, this weekend, and expected to meet with the president-elect later Saturday. After that, Trump is set to head to Saturday night’s UFC heavyweight championship fight between Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Except for a day trip to Washington this week to meet for nearly two hours with President Joe Biden, and separately address House Republicans, Trump has been spending his time since his Election Day victory at Mar-a-Lago, which has hosted galas and conservative events throughout the week, A return to Madison Square Garden means revisiting the place where a comedian caused an uproar at a Trump rally last month by likening Puerto Rico to a “floating island of garbage.” Yet Trump continues to relish visits to New York, where he lived for decades. Trump also has been close to Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White for more than two decades. White hosted a 2001 UFC battle at Trump Taj Mahal, a former casino-hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Trump has frequently attended UFC matches since […]
The Loop, a mega audio world of wholesome fun, is celebrating its two-year anniversary with a LoopFest bang! The LoopFest is jam-packed with excitement for kids—all kids, whether or not they’re subscribers—but here’s the part that will delight you, their parent. Subscribe during the LoopFest season and get two months free! And now for the kids! The Loop is kicking off their new Live Show season with the epically awesome LoopFest Live Show. Open to all kids, this is one bash your kids don’t want to miss! The Live Show will be hosted by the hilarious Rabbi Motty Zeiger. The program will include a fun and fast-paced game show. Rabbi Meir Ben Dayan, Rabbi Eli Scheller, and Rabbi Yoel Ferber will be featured in a star-studded storytime. Beri Weber, Uri Davidi, the Berko Brothers, and Baruch Levine will star in an unforgettable Loop Jingle Challenge. Spin the wheel for instant giveaways and mega, major raffles. Additionally, all existing and new LoopKids will be entered into a bonus raffle for a Segmart Go-Kart. Drawing will take place at LoopFest Live! Here’s what you need to know: The LoopFest Live show call-in is on Sunday, November 17, at 7 p.m. That’s today! Join us for LoopFest Live on the Loop at 848-777-8888. Backup numbers are 646-777-8884 and 810-777-8883. It’s easy to subscribe! Subscribe online at www.calltheloop.com. Call The Loop at 848-777-8888 and follow the easy subscribe by phone prompts. Text ‘Loop’ to 732-785-4540. For customer support, email support@calltheloop.com or call/Whatsapp/text 732-592-5437.
Russia on Sunday launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine, described by officials as the largest over the past months, targeting energy infrastructure and killing civilians. The attack came as fears are mounting about Moscow’s intentions to devastate Ukraine’s power generation capacity ahead of the cold winter. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia had launched a total of 120 missiles and 90 drones in a large-scale attack across Ukraine. Various types of drones were deployed, he said, including Iranian-made Shaheds as well as cruise, ballistic and aircraft-launched ballistic missiles. Ukrainian defenses shot down 140 air targets, Zelenskyy said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. “The enemy’s target was our energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, there is damage to objects from hits and falling debris. In Mykolaiv, as a result of a drone attack, two people were killed and six others were injured, including two children,” Zelenskyy said. Two others were killed in the Odesa region, where the attack damaged energy infrastructure and disrupted power and water supplies, said local Gov. Oleh Kiper. The combined drone and missile attack was the most powerful in three months, according to the head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration Serhii Popko. Russian strikes have hammered Ukraine’s power infrastructure since Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighbor in February 2022, prompting repeated emergency power shutdowns and nationwide rolling blackouts. Ukrainian officials have routinely urged Western allies to bolster the country’s air defenses to counter assaults and allow for repairs. Explosions were heard across Ukraine on Sunday, including in capital Kyiv, the key southern port of Odesa, as well as the country’s west and central regions, according to local reports. The operational command of Poland’s armed forces wrote on X that Polish and allied aircraft, including fighter jets, have been mobilized in Polish airspace because of the “massive” Russian attack on neighboring Ukraine. The steps were aimed to provide safety in Poland’s border areas, it said. One person was injured after the roof of a five-story residential building caught fire in Kyiv’s historic center, according to Popko. A thermal power plant operated by private energy company DTEK was “seriously damaged,” the company said. (AP)
Three Israelis were arrested overnight Motzei Shabbos for firing flares at the private home of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Caesarea on Motzei Shabbos. The three suspects are anti-government anarchists, including a senior IDF reserve officer who is one of the leaders of the protests against Netanyahu in Caesarea. Ynet reported that according to the investigation, the suspects launched the flares from dunes on the beach near Netanyahu’s home. The flares that were used are designed to be used by naval vessels as distress signals. All three suspects were reportedly well-known anti-Netanyahu activists and will likely face multiple criminal charges, including arson. Israeli media reports said that the suspects were interrogated by the Shin Bet and were forbidden from meeting with their lawyers. A joint statement from the Shin Bet and Israel Police on Sunday morning said: “As part of the police and Shin Bet investigation into the firing of two flare bombs towards the Prime Minister’s residence in Caesarea, the following details have been permitted for publication: Last night, three suspects were arrested for involvement in the incident. The three have been transferred for a joint investigation by the Shin Bet and the police’s Lahav 433 unit. Additional details will be provided later according to the progress of the investigation.” “The court has issued a gag order on the details of the investigation and the identities of the suspects for a period of 30 days in order to prevent obstruction or harm to the investigation.” One of the flares landed on Netanyahu’s property and kindled a fire. Baruch Hashem, the Netanyahus were not home at the time of the incident and no one was injured. A week ago, the Jerusalem Police arrested a suspect for firing flares at Netanyahu’s resident in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Magistrates’s Court extended the suspect’s arrest but a judge from the Jerusalem District Court ordered his release, saying: “It’s important to consider that the use of these means was done within the framework of a protest.” Deputy Commissioner Asi Aharoni, head of the police spokesperson unit, told Reshet Bet: “This is a dangerous escalation. We see an increase in protests, whether it’s people coming with fuel containers in their bags and lighting bonfires – in Tel Aviv, a police officer was almost set on fire. We see flares and flare bombs. We allow freedom of protest but these are actions that must be condemned.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
Conservative lawmakers in the Polish parliament exulted at Donald Trump’s victory, standing and applauding while they chanted his name. The prospect of a second Trump term has excited people on the populist right across Central Europe who share his anti-immigrant views and contempt for international organizations. But many others in a region near the war in Ukraine are afraid. They worry Trump could abandon Ukraine and force Kyiv into a deal that ends up emboldening Russia further, or unwind the U.S. military presence in Europe. The change in Washington means Europe will have to invest more in its security and defense rather than relying on the American protective shield as it has done for decades, argues Michał Baranowski, managing director of Warsaw-based GMF East, part of the German Marshall Fund think tank. “We Europeans — Poles and French and Brits and preferably Germany as well — need to step up,” Baranowski said. “Only by stepping up do we have a chance to keep the worst case scenarios from happening, both a bad deal in Ukraine and perhaps a lowering of U.S. engagement in Europe.” Poland, the Baltic states and other nations across Central and Eastern Europe were under Moscow’s control during the Cold War. When that era ended in 1989, it freed them to turn to the West. They never want to return to being satellites of Moscow. NATO members now, they worry that Trump in his second term could end a decades-long commitment to securing the peace in Europe. Just this week, a missile defense base in northern Poland was inaugurated — the fruit of years of planning by Republican and Democratic administrations. Polish officials expressed hopes that it was a sign that a bipartisan U.S. commitment to the region would endure. “The whole world will see clearly that this is not Russia’s sphere of interest anymore,” Polish President Andrzej Duda declared. Trump has a long history of denigrating NATO, and former administration officials say he repeatedly threatened to withdraw the U.S. from the alliance. His allies have described that as bluster or tough negotiating tactics that have pushed other European allies to take more responsibility, and argue that Trump didn’t abandon NATO. The change in Washington has in just a few days changed the dynamic of Poland’s presidential campaign before an election next spring. Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, a former defense minister with ties in Washington, entered the running to be the candidate for centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s party, challenging the longtime favorite, Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski. Sikorski argues that his experience makes him the better choice for the times. His opponents argue that the anti-Trump views of his wife, the American writer Anne Applebaum, could create complications with Trump’s upcoming administration. The region is now holding its collective breath to see what a second Trump presidency will bring. Officials in Poland and the Baltic states have been stressing their high defense spending — relative to their overall economic output — in their congratulatory messages to Trump. Kersti Kaljulaid, who was Estonia’s president during Trump’s first term, told the Estonian public broadcaster ERR that Estonians, Poles and others in Eastern Europe found ways to reach Trump before, “and I think that this skill is something that we still have today.” All are now watching to see if […]
The IDF on Sunday morning announced that an IDF soldier was killed in battle in the northern Gaza Strip. He was named as Sgt. First Class (res) Idan Kenan, H’yd, 21 from Ramat Gan. He fought in the Kfir Brigade’s 90th Battalion. He was killed by a Hamas sniper on the outskirts of Jabaliya, near Beit Lahiya. His death increases the death toll of IDF soldiers since the start of the war to 796. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
Patrons at Murph’s Tavern are toasting not just Donald Trump’s return to the presidency but the fact that he carried their northern New Jersey county, a longtime Democratic stronghold in the shadow of New York City. To Maria Russo, the woman pouring the drinks, the reasons behind Trump’s win were as clear in the runup to the election as the shot glasses lined up on the high-top tables. A mother raising two kids on her own in Passaic County on a barkeep’s income, she saw it not just in light of her own situation but those of the people around her. “Anybody can see what’s going on, you know? The prices of everything. And me being a single mom?” she said. “I notice that when I go shopping – just like everybody else does.” Although Trump’s win once again reflected a deep political divide across the United States, he made inroads in surprising places. From the suburbs of New Jersey to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s New York City congressional district to reliably liberal Hawaii, Trump gained ground even as support for Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, dropped off. AP VoteCast, a far-reaching survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide, found that Trump made substantial gains among Black and Latino men, younger voters, and nonwhite voters without a college degree, compared with his 2020 performance. Common themes emerged in the AP VoteCast data. Voters were most likely to see the economy and immigration as top issues facing the country. More voters said their family’s financial situation was “falling behind,” compared with 2020. When they voted, Trump supporters were thinking about high prices for gas, groceries and other goods and the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. Even in Hawaii, dominated by Democrats since the 1950s when labor unions organized sugar and pineapple plantation workers who built the state’s middle class, Republicans had commanding victories. In West Oahu, for example, where many plantations have given way to suburban development, school teacher Julie Reyes Oda, a Republican, flipped one state House district in the heavily blue-collar, working-class town of Ewa Beach. In the district next door, state Rep. Diamond Garcia held on to a seat he turned Republican two years ago. Democrats still control supermajorities in both chambers, but the GOP’s nine House and three Senate seats are the most the party’s had in the Legislature since 2004. Newly elected Republican state Sen. Samantha DeCorte said voters in her Waianae district west of Honolulu have long been frustrated by a lack of resources for basic needs such as public safety. Residents feel like they have to look over their shoulders when they are pumping gas, DeCorte said. “They don’t want to go to the grocery store at night because they have to walk back to their car in the parking lot,” she said. Economic concerns, including the high cost of housing, may have figured prominently in the thinking of some Hawaii voters. On an island where the median cost of a single-family home tops $1.1 million, many people, including large numbers of Native Hawaiians, have been forced to move to the continental U.S. In New Jersey, AP VoteCast showed that Trump grew his support among nonwhite suburban voters and younger women, in addition to the demographic swings that showed up nationally. In New York, […]
