Discount store chain Target said Friday that it would join rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that have come under attack from conservative activists and, as of this week, the White House. Target, which operates nearly 2,000 stores nationwide and employs more than 400,000 people, said it already had planned to end the racial program this year. The company said Friday that it also would conclude the diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, goals it previously set in three-year cycles. On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order aimed at ending DEI programs across the federal government. The order calls for revoking all DEI mandates, policies, preferences and activities, along with the review and revision of existing employment practices, union contracts, and training policies or programs. (AP)
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has reversed his decision and is reportedly now “offering his presidential plane to help repatriate deportees from the US.”
New details about the captivity of the female IDF soldiers, especially, Daniella Gilboa, were revealed on Sunday by Etty Schwartz, Daniella’s great aunt. Speaking with Kan News, she said “She (Daniella’s mother) can’t say much and I can’t say much either. She also didn’t tell me a lot. She said that at times they only ate one or two pitas a day, until their stomachs swelled.” “Sometimes there was food and they would cook and prepare food,” she added. According to other reports, some of the female soldiers were forced to cook food for their captors but forbidden from tasting any of it. At least one female soldier was held alone in a dark tunnel for an extended period of time with almost no food. Schwartz said that one positive fact was that most of them were held together in one place. “Thankfully they were together, they encouraged each other. They learned Arabic and speak fluent Arabic now. They probably spoke with their captors and there were also the captors’ children.” Schwartz also reported that Daniella mentioned that while in Gaza, she and her friends slept on mattresses and were dressed in Arab clothing. “She didn’t want to divulge too many details,” she added. Schwartz added that Daniella has a bullet in her leg that has not yet been removed. “You can see it in the abduction video when she jumped on one leg.” Liri, Na’ama, Karina, and Daniella are expected to remain in Beilinson Hospital, in a department that resembles more of a hotel than a hospital, for at least the next four days. Channel 12 reported that the medical team treating the released hostages, as well as the family members, are well aware that their initial euphoria upon returning to Israel does not reflect the full picture. The families recounted that one of the female soldiers, who had spent long months alone in a narrow tunnel, asked other captives she encountered afterward, “Tell me, are we alive?” Family members are preparing themselves for the memories to resurface over time and for difficulties to arise. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher, the three hostages released from Hamas captivity a week ago as part of the first phase of the deal with Hamas, were discharged on Sunday from Sheba Medical Center, where they were hospitalized following their release. The Sheba Medical Center reported: “The three returnees have completed their stay and examinations. We will continue to support them and their families. We remain prepared and alert until the last hostage is returned.” During their 471 days of captivity, the three were moved from place to place several times. Among other places, they were held in an apartment in Gaza City – which was constantly guarded by Hamas terrorists, served as human shields for terrorists when taken to a humanitarian complex in the Strip, and were held in a tunnel without exposure to sunlight. The hostages reported that during their captivity they learned to speak Arabic. Emily Damari lost two of her fingers after being shot at by Hamas terrorists on October 7 before she was abducted. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
President Donald Trump pushed back on Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Sunday after Petro’s regime refused to allow U.S. deportation flights to land in his country. The U.S. had sent two flights of Colombian illegal aliens from the U.S. this weekend as part of Trump’s burgeoning deportation program. Petro argued on X that the U.S. cannot “treat Colombian migrants as criminals,” leading to backlash from Trump. “I was just informed that two repatriation flights from the United States, with a large number of Illegal Criminals, were not allowed to land in Colombia. This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people,” Trump wrote on social media. “Petro’s denial of these flights has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States, so I have directed my Administration to immediately take the following urgent and decisive retaliatory measures,” Trump continued. Trump’s says he has ordered a 25% tariff on all goods coming into the U.S. from Colombia, a tariff that will rise to 50% after one week. He also ordered a travel ban and Visa revocations for all Colombian government officials, including their “allies and supporters.” He also ordered enhanced Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspections of “all Colombian nationals and cargo.” “These measures are just the beginning. We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!” Trump warned. Petro has yet to respond directly to Trump’s retaliation on Sunday. He initially condemned the migrant flights, however. “The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals. I deny the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory. The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them,” Petro wrote. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
A multi-vehicle crash at South Parker Drive and Forshay Road on Sunday afternoon prompted a large emergency response. Six individuals were transported to local hospitals, with Forshay Road closed between Parker Blvd and Crabapple Court. Motorists are advised to avoid the area. FULL ARTICLE ON MONSEY SCOOP
People are listing phones preloaded with TikTok for tens of thousands of dollars on eBay, Facebook marketplace and other online storefronts — though it is not clear if there are many buyers at those prices. TikTok was briefly unavailable to U.S. users over the weekend, but as of Sunday anyone who had previously downloaded it has been able to use it. The app is still not available for download on Apple and Google’s app stores, so anyone who didn’t think to get TikTok before Sunday is out of luck. As a result, some entrepreneurial spirits are selling phones and tablets that have TikTok — and other apps from its parent company ByteDance, such as Lemon8 and video editor CapCut. On eBay, listings could be found for as much as $50,000 (or as little as $340) on Friday. While it’s not clear how many such phones have sold, the ones selling for hundreds have received the most bids. One seller, Nicholas Matthews, who lives in New York, said he decided to sell the phone when he saw that TikTok was in high demand. He listed an iPhone 14 Plus with TikTok for $10,000. As of Friday, Matthews said his highest bid was for $4,550. “I’m just expecting to sell this one phone,” he said. TikTok has about 170 million users in the U.S. The ban does not target individual users, who are technically free to use it as long as they could. Ebay did not immediately respond to a message for comment on the listings on Friday. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump directed his Justice Department to pause enforcement of the ban until early April. But a host of questions remain — including whether Trump has the authority to issue such an order and if TikTok’s China-based parent would be amenable to selling the popular social media platform. (AP)
Federal agencies have begun removing resources for underrepresented Americans from their webpages following President Donald Trump’s executive order cracking down on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Agencies also have been cancelling staff trainings and shuttering diversity offices to comply with the order from Trump, who has called for all DEI staff to be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. Documents on DEI have been removed from websites at agencies including the Office of Personnel Management, State Department and Department of Homeland Security. Web addresses that once led to DEI pages now display “Page Not Found — 404” messages or notes above archived material explaining the change. At some agencies, the drive to remove diversity mentions was creating widespread questions and confusion. Lacking clear guidance, Defense Department staff members were pulling websites down in often inconsistent ways. The Army, as an example, temporarily removed its assault guidelines — raising questions about what message that might be sending, considering that Trump’s defense nominee Pete Hegseth has been involved in sex assault allegations, which he denies. The guidelines were back up late Thursday. Some of the materials that vanished aimed to help agencies recruit diverse workforces and foster a sense of belonging for employees and students in schools across America. Critics say the rollbacks could result in dramatic shifts in hiring and a return to discriminatory practices of the past. Among the sites taken down was a page dedicated to the Inaugural Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity created during the Biden administration. Dorothy Brown, a Georgetown law professor who served on the committee, said the order has far-reaching implications for workforce diversity. “Conservatives would say it is wrong to target someone based on their race – but that is exactly what Trump is doing,” she said. The State Department on Wednesday dismantled its Office of Diversity and Inclusion and removed the link to it from its website. The office had been created by former Secretary of State Antony Blinken with fanfare shortly after he took office and had produced reports identifying strategies for attracting minorities and women into the department’s workforce. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a cable this week to all U.S. embassies and consulates abroad barring them from flying anything other than the American flag or flags to honor prisoners of war or the wrongfully detained. The directive effectively banned the display of LGBTQ+ pride or Black Lives Matter flags, which had been permitted under the Biden administration. On Thursday night, the Education Department announced it had removed or archived hundreds of guidance documents, reports and training materials. The department said it cancelled contracts totaling more than $2.6 million for staff DEI training. The pages that were taken down include “Resources for LGBTQI+ Students,” an overview of civil rights laws related to “Race, Color, or National Origin Discrimination,” and guidance titled “Avoid the Discriminatory Use of Artificial Intelligence.” An Education Department statement said the deleted pages “encouraged schools and institutions of higher education to promote or endorse harmful ideological programs.” Trump has called DEI programs “discrimination” and insisted on restoring strictly “merit-based” hiring. Conservative groups have praised the rollback. Parents Defending Education, an organization that has filed lawsuits challenging diversity initiatives at schools, applauded Trump for taking steps “to root out these programs permanently.” Attacks on […]
A message from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth: “DoD ≠ DEI” “no exceptions, name-changes, or delays. Those who do not comply will no longer work here.”
50 undocumented immigrants receive one-way tickets to ICE custody after DEA agents disrupt a Venezuelan gang’s gathering in Colorado, seizing cash and weapons.
New York’s Long Island was once synonymous with “duck” in the culinary world. Now it may lose its last commercial farm. The avian flu outbreak that has led to the slaughter of millions of birds at U.S. poultry farms and driven up the price of eggs struck the Crescent Duck Farm this week, leading federal officials to order the destruction of the operation’s entire flock. Doug Corwin, whose family has owned the roughly 140-acre farm since the 1640s, said Friday that a multiday culling of about 100,000 birds has been completed at the now-quarantined barns in Aquebogue. His remaining staff will thoroughly sanitize the facility, a process that could take months. “We’re just stunned right now,” Corwin, 66, said Friday by phone. “It’s a very, very sad time. We’re trying our best to work our way through this, one step at a time.” He said the family will have to reckon with the future of the fourth-generation business, which was established in 1908 and is tucked among the vineyards and agricultural lands of Long Island’s North Fork, about 80 miles (129 km) east of Manhattan. Corwin said he was forced to lay off 47 of the farm’s 75-member staff, including many who had worked there for decades as the farm’s revenue cratered. “If duck farming isn’t an option, I’m not sure what we’d do,” he said. “We’re not really set up for anything else.” Long Island was once a center of duck production in the U.S., thanks to its abundance of freshwater streams, friendly climate and proximity to major East Coast cities. During its heyday in the early 1960s, the region boasted more than 100 farms, producing up to 7.5 million birds annually, or about two-thirds of the nation’s duck output. Crescent Duck Farm has been the island’s lone remaining operation for the better part of a decade, as higher operating costs, tougher regulations and increasing suburban sprawl took their toll. Today the farm supplies nearly 4% of all the ducks sold in the country, supplying restaurants across the Northeast and beyond, including a number of high-end establishments in New York City, Corwin said. The key to its longevity has been the quality of its ducks, which he said have a thick, meaty breast and just enough skin fat to keep them tender and moist during cooking. “The only way we’ve survived on Long Island is by making a duck that is different from our competition,” Corwin said. Following the outbreak, the farm was allowed to hold on to several thousand duck eggs, which he hopes will help rebuild its flock and preserve the distinctive genetics honed over generations. The quarantined eggs will first be sanitized and hatched offsite, with regular testing for any signs of the virus. But Corwin said he is reluctant to restart without federal approval for vaccinating poultry — something larger industrial farms oppose because of its impact on international sales. Without vaccination, he said, smaller operations will continue to be at risk of total ruin. Even now, Corwin said he is not sure how the virus entered the tightly controlled facility after he noticed signs some of the birds were amiss last week. The farm, he said, imposed strict protocols to prevent infection as bird flu has ravaged poultry operations globally. Cases of this strain […]
U.S. President Donald Trump has escalated actions against Colombia with measures including 25% tariffs, a travel ban, visa sanctions, intensified CBP inspections, and financial penalties.
A resident of the central Oregon city of Bend says he was the person behind some of the googly eyes that appeared on sculptures around the city in recent months and sparked a viral sensation widely covered by news outlets. Jeff Keith, founder of a Bend-based nonprofit called Guardian Group that works to combat human trafficking, said Friday that he used duct tape to attach googly eyes to two sculptures. He said he has carried out similar pranks on other Bend sculptures before — such as adorning them with hula skirts and leis — and that they serve as a respite from the emotional toll of his work. “It is a place for me to cope with some pretty heavy stuff,” he told The Associated Press, noting that many of the trafficking victims he has worked with have been through “unimaginable trauma.” The city shared photos of the googly eye installations on social media in early December, saying the adhesives can damage the art. One photo shows googly eyes placed on a sculpture of two deer — which Keith described as his handiwork — while another shows them attached to a sphere. City officials at the time said eight sculptures were affected and that it cost $1,500 to remove the googly eyes. The social media posts prompted a cascade of comments, with many social media users saying they liked the googly eyes and that the city shouldn’t spend time and money on removing them. The post and its comments were covered by news outlets, and even made it on a segment of CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Keith said he didn’t expect his exploits to receive that much attention, and that he went to city offices to offer to pay for any damages. The city didn’t immediately respond Friday to an emailed request seeking confirmation and comment. Bend’s communications director, Rene Mitchell, told The Associated Press last month that the city regretted that its post had been misunderstood. She said there was no intent to be “heavy-handed” and that the posts were meant to raise awareness about the damage adhesives can do to the city’s public art collection. The city had started treating some of the art pieces, she said, which are made of different types of metal such as bronze and steel. Keith, who has lived in Bend for nearly two decades, said he also hopes his pranks bring some humor and joy into people’s everyday lives. “I think the biggest thing is, for me, just to get a laugh,” he said. “When I come up on these roundabouts and I see families laughing, like hysterically laughing at these, it makes for a good time.” (AP)
An anti-Semitic incident occurred in Ireland where the President criticized Israel over the Gaza conflict during his International Holocaust Remembrance Day speech. Jews and Israelis at the event protested his comments and were forcibly removed from the ceremony.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas over the weekend made a congratulatory call to terrorist Yasser Abu Bakr, a senior operative of Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, after he was released from prison as part of the ceasefire/hostage deal. Abu Bakr Abu Bakr was serving a 115-year prison sentence for a 2002 terror attack in Netanya that killed several Israelis, including a 9-month-old baby, as well as other terror attacks that wounded numerous Israelis. Fatah named a training program after him for his “heroic” baby-killing deeds. In a recording of the call, which was broadcast by Kan News, Abbas is heard congratulating the murderer on his release, telling him that his time in prison was “for the sake of the Palestinian nation.” Reports about Abbas’ call enraged Israelis. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich responded: “Mahmoud Abbas remains a terror supporter and the Palestinian Authority is nothing more than a terrorist organization. His phone call to a murderer of Jews should be a wake-up call to those who still delude themselves about the PA as an alternative to Hamas after the war.” Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir said: “You close your eyes to the PA rewarding murderers and teaching terror, release thousands of terrorists, stop the war in Gaza and retreat from Netzarim and northern Gaza. Give bulldozers to Hamas and don’t forget to tell us they’re deterred. It’s time to change the system.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
Syrian channels assert that the new Syrian government has discovered a chemical weapons warehouse previously owned by the Assad regime in the Al-Abbasiya neighborhood of Homs city.
