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ABSOLUTE HORROR: Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London’s Gatwick Airport, crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after taking off at 1:38 p.m. local time. There were 242 passengers and crew members onboard the flight. 169 are from India, 53 are from Britain, 7 are from Portugal, and 1 is from Canada.

According to a report from CBS News, Israel is reportedly ready to initiate a full-scale military campaign against Iran, based on information from multiple sources familiar with the situation.

American officials have been made aware of Israel’s readiness and are preparing for potential Iranian responses, particularly those that might target American personnel or facilities in Iraq. In light of the possible threat, the U.S. State Department has directed embassies situated near Iranian proxies to activate their Emergency Action Committees (EACs). Additionally, all non-essential American government staff in Iraq have been instructed to leave, and the Pentagon has authorized voluntary departure for military families stationed throughout the Middle East.

Despite the tension, White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff still plans to move ahead with a sixth round of indirect negotiations with Iran concerning its nuclear ambitions in the coming days.

Neither Israeli nor U.S. administration representatives would offer public comments to CBS on the matter.

Speaking at the United Hatzalah gala in New York on Wednesday night, Witkoff addressed the sensitive nuclear talks. He firmly stated, “Uranium enrichment or nuclear weapons development by Iran would not be tolerated,” and warned that “a nuclear-armed Iran [is] an existential threat to both Israel and the United States.” He added that unwavering and collective action is necessary to block such a development, “regardless of the cost.”

During his remarks, Witkoff also praised President Donald Trump, referring to him as “a true friend of the Jewish people.” With a humorous touch, he quipped that Trump could “simultaneously serve as President of the United States and Prime Minister of Israel.”

{Matzav.com}

U.S. wholesale prices rose modestly last month from a year earlier, another sign that inflationary pressures remain mild. The Labor Department reported Thursday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it its consumers — rose 2.6% in May 2024. Producer prices rose 0.1% from April to May after dropping 0.2% the month before. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, wholesale costs were up 0.1% from April and 3% from May 2024. The readings were slightly lower than economists had forecast. Wholesale energy prices were unchanged, although gasoline prices rose 1.6% from April after falling the month before. Food prices at the wholesale level ticked up 0.1% after dropping 0.9% in April. Egg prices, volatile because of the bird flu, rose 1.4% following 39.3% drop in April; they are up 125% from May 2024. The report came out a day after the Labor Department said that consumer prices rose a modest 0.1% last month from April and 2.4% from a year earlier. Since returning to the office, Trump has rolled out 10% tariffs on nearly every country in the world as well as specific levies on steel, aluminum and autos. Importers in the United States pay the taxes and pass them along to consumers via higher prices when they can. For that reason, economists expect inflation to pick up later this year. So far, his tariffs don’t seem to have had much of an impact on prices overall. Still, Stephen Brown of Capital Economics noted that Wholesale prices can offer an early look at where consumer inflation might be headed. Economists also watch it because some of its components, notably health care and financial services, flow into the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, index. Inflation began to flare up for the first time in decades in 2021, as the economy roared back with unexpected strength from COVID-19 lockdowns. That prompted the Fed to raise its benchmark interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023. The higher borrowing costs helped bring inflation down from the peaks it reached in 2022, and last year the Fed felt comfortable enough with the progress to cut rates three times. But it has turned cautious this year while it waits to see the inflationary impact of Trump’s trade policies. The central bank is expected to leave rates unchanged at its meeting next Tuesday and Wednesday. “There is no incentive for the (Fed) to debate hiking rates in today’s figures,” Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote. “In fact, if the Fed did not know that tariff increases were in the pipeline, it might even contemplate cutting rates.” (AP)

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Once again, I was granted the zechus to spend Shavuos in Eretz Yisroel, a land where holiness is not remembered but felt, where the air itself hums with ancient echoes.

When coming to Yerushalayim, you are coming to a place beyond space, to a rhythm beyond time.

Yerushalayim on any Yom Tov is a jewel alight with kedusha, but on Shavuos, it shimmers with something deeper. As the night unfolds, thousands flow like rivers through her narrow streets, drawn to the botei medrash by an inner fire, eyes wide, hearts yearning, feet quick with purpose.

By dawn, those same throngs converge upon the Kosel, seeking the moment of vosikin, as the first rays of sun bathe the wall from where the Shechinah never departed. At the moment the sun rises over Yerushalayim, the tens of thousands of people davening in dozens of minyonim of various dialects and nuschaos suddenly fall silent. There is a hush, a collective breath, as everyone begins to recite the silent Shemoneh Esrei at the same moment. And then the songs of chazoras hashatz return, followed by gorgeous renditions of Hallel, Rus, Akdadmos and Musaf. As minyonim finish, their mispalelim begin streaming home to celebrate the rest of Yom Tov.

To watch it and be part of it is like participating in a celestial symphony.

Another deep zechus was to daven at Kever Rochel, the resting place of Rochel Imeinu, the mother who still cries for her children. The Vilna Gaon writes that the Shechinah resides there, and as you stand at the kever, you feel it—not as a thought, but as a presence. A gentle weight. A listening stillness.

Although Chazal say that when we sit to learn Torah the Shechinah joins us, and there are definitely many other occasions and times when the Shechinah is present, in golus the Shechinah can feel distant, like a beloved voice heard through static. But in Eretz Yisroel, that voice grows clear, close and insistent.

At the Kosel, tefillah becomes something else entirely. You slow down. You breathe the words. You don’t just say them, you live them. With each syllable, your heart whispers, “Hashem is listening. I am seen.”

Even in the simplest shuls, modest buildings tucked into quiet alleyways, you see it: People davening with focus, dignity, and an inner calm. No one rushing in with coffee in hand. No tallis slung casually over the shoulder. Davening isn’t an obligation. It’s an encounter. A sacred audience.

Life there is different. Simpler. Not easier, but purer in a way. The apartments are small, the budgets tight. But the simcha, the sense of purpose, fills the space like sunlight through narrow windows. Bnei Torah live with less, but they live with more.

And in that spirit of simplicity and greatness intertwined, one of the most moving moments of my journey was visiting the soon-to-open museum in the humble home of the Chazon Ish.

To call it fascinating would be an understatement. Using modern tools, the museum gently draws you into the past. The screen flickers to life, and suddenly you’re in the shtetel of Kosovo. You hear the cluck of chickens, the creak of old wood, the voices in the bais medrash where the young Chazon Ish once learned. And then, as if aboard a dream, you find yourself seated in a train rattling through the Lithuanian countryside, heading toward history.

The life and experiences of the Chazon Ish comes alive vividly before you. You are then led into the Chazon Ish’s one-room apartment where he learned and lived in Bnei Brak. There is a period bed, the same size as the one used by the great gaon. There is a nearby table where he studied until he had no more strength, where he wrote the chiddushei Torah that are studied today by lomdim around the world, where he wrote teshuvos that changed behaviors, and where he wrote letters of chizuk and hadrocha that inspire and guide until today.

There is no comparable experience in our world. To be able to stand in a room of such historical significance, to be able to look around and see exactly what it looked like when the tzaddik lived, and to be able to stand there and contemplate what transpired in that room and the amount of Torah and kedusha that was generated there is an overwhelming experience. At least it was for me.

After being given the opportunity to stand there and let your mind wander, you are brought into the adjoining room where the Chazon Ish davened along with his minyan. You can stand in the very spot where the Chazon Ish stood and offered his tefillos to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. I said a few kappitlach of Tehillim, hoping that my words might follow the same path, riding on the tefillos paved by that great talmid chochom and tzaddik.

Adjacent to the shul is the small mikvah the Chazon Ish used, which is available for use for those who wish.

Bnei Brak today is a city of Torah in full bloom, a bustling metropolis of avodah and purpose. Yet, at its core, it remains rooted in that one-room apartment at Rechov Chazon Ish 37. From those walls, waves of Torah and kedusha spread outward, generation upon generation. What a sacred undertaking it is to preserve that beginning, to recreate the space where light once entered the world.

I was privileged to be guided through that space by Rav Reuven Korlansky, who graciously hosted me and brought me to meet his mechutan, the great gaon and rosh yeshiva Rav Isamar Garbuz. His brilliance shimmered through his words, as did his warmth.

Bnei Brak is close to me. Three generations of my relatives lay buried there: my grandfather, Rav Leizer Levin; his son-in-law, Rav Chaim Dov Keller; his son, Rav Avrohom Chaim Levin; and his grandson, Rav Shmuel Yehudah Levin.

At their kevorim, I davened with the weight of gratitude and longing, asking for brocha and hatzlocha in their merit. I felt their presence, quiet and strong, their voices and memories bright and sharp in my heart.

As I walk the streets there memories come back to me from the days I would go there to see Maran Rav Shach, the Steipler, and the city’s other gedolim throughout the years.

During our stay, I also visited my rabbeim, Rav Avrohom Yehoshua Soloveitchik and Rav Dovid Cohen, who provided chizuk and direction for our troubling and trying times. They were effusive and warm as they encouraged me to maintain emunah and bitachon, as we recognize that everything that is happening is being arranged by Hakadosh Boruch Hu. There is no better way to maintain equilibrium in a time when nothing that is happening seems to make any sense.

During our stay, we traveled from one end of the country to the other, from Naharia in the north, where the anteroom of Rav Dovid Abuchatzeira was filled with people waiting for a brocha and for clarity, to the Gaza border in the south, which was thankfully very quiet.

It was nice to be in places I had never previously visited, such as the supposed kever of Yehudah in Yahud, Castel, Moshav Chemed, and other off-the-beaten-track locales. I wandered through towns I’d never known, their silence steeped in stories. But no matter how far we traveled, no place stirred my soul like Yerushalayim.

Yerushalayim doesn’t just contain kedusha. It breathes it. Each stone tells a story, each alley whispering tefillos of centuries. She takes my breath away each time I visit all over again.

From being at the Kosel, to visiting and speaking with some of the iconic residents and characters, to walking the streets of Geulah where we stayed, there is a definite chein, a holiness wrapped in beauty.

When you meet the city’s rabbonim, tzaddikim, nistorim, storekeepers, tradesmen, people on the street and even the shleppers and the taxi drivers, there’s a sparkle in their eye, a touch of knowing. When you speak with them, you hear it: chochmah dipped in bitachon, humor laced with humility.

I love standing anonymously in the street, blending into the stones of the walls, and studying people as they scurry about doing their pre-Yom Tov errands. A purposeful rush takes over them, but they maintain their dignity and sense of kedusha as they engage in preparations for the various mitzvos hayom. Carrying bags of different sizes and colors, they patiently look for the best of everything with which to celebrate Shabbos and Yom Tov, as they traverse Rechov Malchei Yisroel and its little offshoots, patronizing the various shops.

Here, we hop into and out of our cars, storing our bags and stuff in the trunk, as we dart in and out of megastores filling our wagons. And there is nothing wrong with that. But it doesn’t come close to the beauty and color of carrying those bags of Shabbos and Yom Tov goodies along the holy streets and bumping into legions of holy, interesting and colorful people engaging in the very same activity.

The scene is a living painting, rich in color, alive with heart.

The Kosel is a place where you can study people’s faces as they encounter kedusha, some more serious about it than others. Faces are turned heavenward, eyes closed in pleading or thanksgiving. Some daven slowly, tears tracing silent paths. Others stand quietly, fingers grazing the stones, unsure of what to say, but knowing that something holy is happening.

There were the regulars, ehrliche Yidden who speak to Hashem with deep familiarity, and the visitors, with temporary yarmulkas and curious eyes, drawn by something they can’t identify.

Many came with children, holding little hands, whispering words of awe. You could see it on their faces: This was not just tourism. It was an encounter.

You hoped it would linger with them.

There were special personal moments as well, such as when my dear friend, Rav Natan Feldman of Tzuf Seforim Publications, presented me with the latest sefer authored by my son, Rav Yitzchok Elchonon, hot off the press. Celebrating my mother-in-law’s 90th birthday was a great highlight, as was visiting my 90-year-old uncle, Rav Berel Wein, and being presented with his latest book on anti-Semitism, which came out this week. Visiting incognito the Shuvu school in Petach Tikva where the Bais Medrash is named for my father and seeing the learning going on there and the children’s angelic faces, was a special nachas.

My special friend, the tzaddik of Rechovot, Rav Zvi Shvartz, honored us with a visit on the second day of Yom Tov, along with some members of his family. He regaled us with divrei Torah and stories of how he began his kiruv revolution in that city, starting with a small shiur that he established while in kollel there, an effort that has led to thousands of baalei teshuvah over the decades. He is indomitable, exhibiting no signs of slowing down in his holy work of teaching and spreading Torah. His fire burns bright.

There were other visitors too. One came bearing flowers, but they weren’t for us.

A deliveryman arrived, flushed and sweating. The beautiful bouquet was meant for someone else, ordered from Brooklyn, but the address was wrong and the phone was off. He’d been searching door to door across buildings for over an hour. As Yom Tov approached, the flowers were wilting, and so was he.

We invited him in, gave him water, and offered him a seat.

He didn’t seem frum, at first glance. But when he began sharing divrei Torah, I noticed a small yarmulka resting at the back of his head. “Hashem sent me here,” he said, “so I’d have someone to share Torah with.”

There he stood, flowers in one hand, Torah on his lips, radiant with bitachon. He wasn’t worried about finding the correct recipient. Hashem would guide him to the right address. Repeating divrei Torah about the rapidly approaching Yom Tov of Shavuos was more important. Eventually, we found the intended recipient. He continued on, but the moment lingered.

Only in Yerushalayim.

Another encounter came in a taxi. Our driver had no yarmulka, but he possessed a mouth full of maamorei Chazal.

We asked him, gently, “If you know so much Torah, why no kippah?”

He answered, “I don’t want to be a chillul Hashem. If someone cuts me off and I yell…I’d rather that they think I’m a chiloni.”

And sure enough, when another driver—an Arab woman—tried to squeeze ahead, he leapt out of the car and began yelling. “Achshav atem meivinim?” he said, turning back to us. “Now you understand?”

I wanted to give him a shmuess about how a Yid is supposed to act in all situations, but I didn’t want to get into an argument with him.

He explained that he is religious, that his children are as well, and that his grandchildren—who all have names from Tanach—go to a mamlachti dati (religious public) school. His parents live in Nachlaot in Yerushalayim and are from Kurdistan. They follow the masoret of Yehudei Kurdistan and even speak Aramaic to each other and to their children. That’s right. They speak the language of the Gemara still today. Fascinating stuff.

There are more stories I could share, like my meeting with Uri Maklev of Degel HaTorah, a devoted servant of the klal and a shliach of the gedolim. But for now, I’ll close with what happened just as I left.

Sitting on the plane, the sadness of departure filling my chest, a man approached me.

“Are you Rabbi Lipschutz?” he asked in Hebrew.

I nodded. I didn’t ask how he knew.

He introduced himself as Avraham Elkaim. “I have a gift for you,” he said. His suitcase had been slightly overweight and airport security made him remove a book. It was a biography of his grandfather, Rav Nissim Toledano. He had  more copies in his other suitcase.

As an ehrliche Yid and baal bitachon, rather than complain and argue, he placed the book in his carry-on and said to himself, “Hashem wants this to end up with someone on the plane.”

He looked around, and when he saw me, he knew.

He handed me an autographed copy of this beautiful new sefer on his grandfather. The biography goes through his life, with each facet portrayed through another of the 48 kinyonim of Torah. I began leafing through it and found it to be a compelling work on a great man. Look for it in the bookstores. It should be there soon.

Receiving the book was emblematic of the way things happen in Eretz Yisroel, and since it happened on an El Al flight, legally we were still in the land where you see and feel the hand of Hashem all the time. As the posuk states, “Eretz asher…tomid einei Hashem Elokecha bah.”

And so, in that moment, I felt it again: the gentle nudge of Hashgocha, the quiet wink from Above.

Ashrei mi shezoche, fortunate are those who live in that land, who walk its streets and breathe its air. Fortunate are those who visit, who taste its sanctity. And fortunate are those who long for it, who whisper in their hearts: Ribono Shel Olam, bring us home.

May we all be reunited there soon b’vias goel tzedek bimeheirah b’yomeinu. Amein.

{Matzav.com}

At Wednesday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to directly address whether President Donald Trump continues to support a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

When questioned about remarks made by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee—who indicated in a Bloomberg interview that the administration may no longer be committed to the idea of a Palestinian Arab state within Israel’s historical borders and that such a state could potentially be established elsewhere—Leavitt chose not to confirm or deny any change in policy.

Instead, Leavitt directed her comments toward the ongoing war in Gaza. “Right now, the President views the situation in Israel and Gaza as deeply unfortunate and needing to end. And the President is realistic about the current state of affairs in this region of the world.”

She emphasized the administration’s immediate goal: “And that’s why the President has said the number one focus and priority of the administration is to release all of the hostages from Gaza and to end this conflict as soon as possible. The administration is still pushing very hard for the release of all the hostages.”

Leavitt also commented on Gaza’s future, saying, “And as for what happens next, clearly, Gaza is an uninhabitable place. It needs to be rebuilt with the help of our Arab partners, and the President wants to see that happen as well.”

{Matzav.com}

Everything ever said on the internet was just the start of teaching artificial intelligence about humanity. Tech companies are now tapping into an older repository of knowledge: the library stacks. Nearly one million books published as early as the 15th century — and in 254 languages — are part of a Harvard University collection being released to AI researchers Thursday. Also coming soon are troves of old newspapers and government documents held by Boston’s public library. Cracking open the vaults to centuries-old tomes could be a data bonanza for tech companies battling lawsuits from living novelists, visual artistsand others whose creative works have been scooped up without their consent to train AI chatbots. “It is a prudent decision to start with public domain data because that’s less controversial right now than content that’s still under copyright,” said Burton Davis, a deputy general counsel at Microsoft. Davis said libraries also hold “significant amounts of interesting cultural, historical and language data” that’s missing from the past few decades of online commentary that AI chatbots have mostly learned from. Supported by “unrestricted gifts” from Microsoft and ChatGPT maker OpenAI, the Harvard-based Institutional Data Initiative is working with libraries around the world on how to make their historic collections AI-ready in a way that also benefits libraries and the communities they serve. “We’re trying to move some of the power from this current AI moment back to these institutions,” said Aristana Scourtas, who manages research at Harvard Law School’s Library Innovation Lab. “Librarians have always been the stewards of data and the stewards of information.” Harvard’s newly released dataset, Institutional Books 1.0, contains more than 394 million scanned pages of paper. One of the earlier works is from the 1400s — a Korean painter’s handwritten thoughts about cultivating flowers and trees. The largest concentration of works is from the 19th century, on subjects such as literature, philosophy, law and agriculture, all of it meticulously preserved and organized by generations of librarians. It promises to be a boon for AI developers trying to improve the accuracy and reliability of their systems. “A lot of the data that’s been used in AI training has not come from original sources,” said the data initiative’s executive director, Greg Leppert, who is also chief technologist at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. This book collection goes “all the way back to the physical copy that was scanned by the institutions that actually collected those items,” he said. Before ChatGPT sparked a commercial AI frenzy, most AI researchers didn’t think much about the provenance of the passages of text they pulled from Wikipedia, from social media forums like Reddit and sometimes from deep repositories of pirated books. They just needed lots of what computer scientists call tokens — units of data, each of which can represent a piece of a word. Harvard’s new AI training collection has an estimated 242 billion tokens, an amount that’s hard for humans to fathom but it’s still just a drop of what’s being fed into the most advanced AI systems. Facebook parent company Meta, for instance, has said the latest version of its AI large language model was trained on more than 30 trillion tokens pulled from text, images and videos. Meta is also battling a lawsuit from comedian Sarah Silverman and […]

An Air India passenger plane bound for London with more than 240 people on board crashed Thursday in India’s northwestern city of Ahmedabad, the airline said. Visuals on local television channels showed smoke billowing from the crash site in what appeared to be a populated area near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city with a population of more than 5 million. The airline said the Gatwick Airport-bound flight was carrying 242 passengers and crew. Of those, Air India said there were 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the director general of the directorate of civil aviation, told The Associated Press that Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8, crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after taking off at 1:38 p.m. local time. He said 244 people were on board and it was not immediately possible to reconcile the discrepancy with Air India’s numbers. Gatwick posted on X that it could confirm the flight, which had been due to arrive at 6:25 p.m. in London, had crashed on departure. India’s Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu posted on X that rescue teams have been mobilized, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support at the site. “We are on highest alert. I am personally monitoring the situation,” he said. The 787 Dreamliner is a widebody, twin-engine plane. This is the first crash ever of a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. The aircraft was introduced in 2009 and more than 1,000 have been delivered to dozens of airlines, according to the flightradar24 website. Air India’s chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, said at the moment “our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families.” He said on X that the airline had set up an emergency center and support team for families seeking information about those who were on the flight. “Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event,” he said. (AP)

The U.N. nuclear watchdog’s board of governors on Thursday formally found that Iran isn’t complying with its nuclear obligations for the first time in 20 years, a move that could lead to further tensions and set in motion an effort to restore United Nations sanctions on Tehran later this year. Iran reacted immediately, saying it will establish a new enrichment facility “in a secure location” and that “other measures are also being planned.” “The Islamic Republic of Iran has no choice but to respond to this political resolution,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said in a joint statement. Nineteen countries on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board, which represents the agency’s member nations, voted for the resolution, according to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the outcome of the closed-doors vote. Russia, China and Burkina Faso opposed it, 11 abstained and two did not vote. In the draft resolution seen by The Associated Press, the board of governors renews a call on Iran to provide answers “without delay” in a long-running investigation into uranium traces found at several locations that Tehran has failed to declare as nuclear sites. Western officials suspect that the uranium traces could provide further evidence that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons program until 2003. The resolution was put forward by France, the U.K., Germany and the United States. Iran under pressure as Trump warns of possible airstrikes Speaking to Iranian state television after the vote, the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said that his agency immediately informed the IAEA of “specific and effective” actions Tehran would take. “One is the launch of a third secure site” for enrichment, spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said. He did not elaborate on the location. Iran has two underground sites at Fordo and Natanz and has been building tunnels in the mountains near Natanz since suspected Israeli sabotage attacks targeted that facility. The other step would be replacing old centrifuges for advanced ones at Fordo. “The implication of this is that our production of enriched materials will significantly increase,” Kamalvandi said. According to the draft resolution, “Iran’s many failures to uphold its obligations since 2019 to provide the Agency with full and timely cooperation regarding undeclared nuclear material and activities at multiple undeclared locations in Iran … constitutes non-compliance with its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement.” Under those obligations, which are part of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran is legally bound to declare all nuclear material and activities and allow IAEA inspectors to verify that none of it is being diverted from peaceful uses. The draft resolution also finds that the IAEA’s “inability … to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful gives rise to questions that are within the competence of the United Nations Security Council, as the organ bearing the main responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.” The draft resolution made a direct reference to the U.S.-Iran talks, stressing its “support for a diplomatic solution to the problems posed by the Iranian nuclear program, including the talks between the United States and Iran, leading to an agreement that addresses all international concerns related to Iran’s nuclear activities, encouraging all parties to constructively engage in diplomacy.” Still a chance for Iran to cooperate […]

WATCH:

The death toll in floods in one of South Africa’s poorest provinces rose to 57 on Thursday as a top official said rescue attempts had been “paralyzed” by a lack of resources. Rescue teams are still working through debris and floodwater to find missing people after heavy rain caused a river to burst its banks in the predawn hours of Tuesday. Floods hit the nearby town of Mthatha and surrounding areas, sweeping away victims along with parts of their houses and cars. Oscar Mabuyane, the premier of Eastern Cape province, said the floods struck while many people were asleep. The water was 3-4 meters (10-13 feet) high when it flowed out of a river and into nearby communities, he added. “It’s a terrible situation,” Mabuyane told state TV broadcaster SABC. “It happened at the wrong time.” Mabuyane said local authorities struggled to launch an effective rescue effort as the disaster happened in what he described as a region lacking resources. He said the largely rural Eastern Cape province in southeastern South Africa, which is home to around 7.2 million people, only has one rescue helicopter. It came to Mthatha from the city of Gqeberha, more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) away. He also said the region does not have any specialist rescue divers or K-9 dog units, meaning they had to be called in from elsewhere to help with the search. “When things like this happen, we are always found wanting,” said Mabuyane. “We are paralyzed.” People were stranded on rooftops and in trees Rescue teams on Wednesday brought bodies out of the water in blue body bags. Witnesses said many people had taken refuge on the tops of buildings or in trees and some were heard calling for help for hours. Provincial government officials previously said they believed people were still missing but did not give an exact number. There was no immediate update on Thursday whether authorities believed all those who were not accounted for had been found. The death toll rose to 57, according to Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa, who led a national government delegation to the province to visit the scene. “This is a real disaster and a catastrophe when we have so many people dying,” Hlabisa said. He added that part of the problem was that many people in the area were living on a flood plain close to the river. The missing had included four high school students who were swept away when their bus was caught up in the floods on its way to school early Tuesday morning. Authorities did not immediately say if those four children were among the latest bodies retrieved. Six students who were on the bus had already been confirmed dead, along with the driver and another adult. Three other students were rescued after clinging onto trees and calling out for help, according to the provincial government. The floods hit the province after an extreme cold front brought heavy rain, strong winds and snow to parts of eastern and southern South Africa. The floods centered on Mthatha and its surrounding district, which is around 430 kilometers (267 miles) south of the east coast city of Durban. Forecasters had warned about the damaging weather last week. Officials said at least 58 schools and 20 hospitals in the Eastern Cape were damaged, while […]

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IDF forces carried out a special targeted operation in the village of Beit Jinn in southern Syria overnight Wednesday, apprehending several Hamas terrorists who tried to advance multiple terrorist acts against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers from within Syria. During the mission, troops also discovered and seized weapons found in the vicinity. The captured terrorists were transferred to Israel, where they were interrogated by intelligence officers from Unit 504. The operation was carried out based on intelligence collected in recent weeks. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

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The new draft conscription law, formulated between MK Yuli Edelstein and representatives of the Chareidi parties, includes a series of strict measures against bnei yeshivos who exercise their freedom of religion and do not enlist in the IDF. For the first time, three categories of restrictions were agreed upon, which will apply to bnei yeshivos, with some of them to be imposed even if recruitment targets are met. Rights and obligations: The Chareidim agreed to permanent restrictions that will apply to potential recruits studying Torah, regardless of meeting recruitment targets. The restrictions include limitations on academic studies, subsidies for work, tax credit points for workers, and vocational training, within the framework of what was called the “rights and obligations model.” Movement restrictions: Another dramatic clause stipulates restrictions on the issuance of driver’s licenses, as well as bans on leaving the country for bnei yeshivos who declare that “תורתם אומנותם.” Sanctions on subsidies: The law will also include economic sanctions, which will apply to the subsidization of day care centers for working Chareidi women if the targets are not met. The achievement of the targets will be examined at the end of each year, and in parallel, an interim examination will be conducted after six months. However, the parties agreed that the law will regulate the status of those who received conscription orders during the period when a valid conscription law was not in effect, conscription orders that were defined as stemming from a legal vacuum and not from a coherent policy. Principles of the Conscription Plan: Mandatory conscription for bnei yeshivos ages 18-26. The law’s defined targets: The recruitment of 4,800 bnei yeshivos in the first year, 5,700 in the second year, and within five years, the recruitment of 50% of Chareidim in the 18-26 cohort. However, if 95% of the recruitment target is achieved, it will be considered that the targets have been met and no sanctions will be applied. Immediate personal sanctions  • Suspension of drivers’ licenses and inability to obtain a new license • Bans on leaving the country (with an exceptions committee) • Cancellation of affirmative action in the public service; cancellation of subsidies for academic studies; whoever works (meaning neither studies nor enlists) – loses tax credit points until age 26. Sanctions on not reaching targets: After six months: If the targets are not met, discounts will not be provided for the second half of the year for daycares and public transportation. After one year: Failure to meet targets will lead to non-receipt of benefits such as Bituach Leumi, the “Mechir L’Mishtakein” program [house lottery], and subsidies for second-hand apartments. After two years: Failure to meet targets will result in the revocation of additional benefits, such as after-school programs and purchase tax in the third year. Institutional sanctions on yeshivos: If 75% or more of the target is met, any percentage gap will be doubled and deducted from the yeshiva budget. For example, if 90% of the target is met, the remaining 10% will be taken, doubled, and 20% of the yeshiva budget will be reduced. If less than 75% of the target is met, 100% of the yeshiva budget will be canceled. According to the proposal, the law will be defined as a temporary order for a period of six years. If, after four […]

Israel is mulling taking military action against Iran in the coming days, most likely without US support, NBC News reported on Thursday morning, citing five people with knowledge of the situation. According to the report, Israel has “become more serious” about a unilateral strike on Iran due to the negotiations between the US and Iran that would allow for the Islamic Republic to continue with uranium enrichment. US President Donald Trump reportedly told Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu earlier this week that he will not provide Israel with a green light to attack Iran at this time. On the other hand, Trump has also expressed frustration with Tehran, which has taken a hard line in negotiations in recent days. Meanwhile, the Trump administration, fearing Iran would retaliate for an Israeli strike against US forces in the region, has evacuated US employees from Iraq and authorized the departure of non-essential staff from embassies in Bahrain and Kuwait. According to a New York Times report, Iran has already prepared a plan to respond to an Israeli attack on its nuclear sites. An Iranian official told the NYT that Iran would respond with an immediate counterattack similar in scope to its October 2024 attack on Israel. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

A man from the United Kingdom appears to have miraculously made it out alive from the catastrophic Air India crash on Thursday that took over 200 lives. Local authorities and video footage confirm that the passenger was seen walking away from the wreckage with only minor injuries.

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who had been seated in 11A aboard the Boeing 787-8, is currently hospitalized, Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik said in a statement to ANI news.

According to the Hindustan Times, Ramesh was spotted hobbling along the road, dazed but conscious, amid the aftermath of the crash, which occurred shortly after the plane departed from Ahmedabad airport and slammed into a residential area.

“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me,” the 40-year-old said from his hospital bed.

“Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”

Ramesh described the terrifying ordeal as the aircraft began its rapid descent before colliding with a housing complex used by medical professionals in a densely populated district of the city, which has around five million residents.

“Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.”

Speaking to the BBC, Ramesh’s relative Ajay Valgi said the family received a phone call from him earlier in the day, reassuring them that he was “fine” after surviving the disaster.

Valgi and other relatives have gathered in Leicester, England, anxiously awaiting updates—particularly about Ramesh’s brother, who was also a passenger on the doomed flight.

Originally from India, Ramesh has resided in the United Kingdom for several years. He is married and has a young child.

There were 242 individuals on the aircraft when it went down.

Initial reports from Ahmedabad’s top police official indicated that there were no survivors and that the crash had also claimed lives on the ground.

However, he later told the BBC that a total of 204 bodies had been recovered from the scene thus far.

{Matzav.com}

In a dramatic overnight development, the leadership of Degel HaTorah and Shas announced their opposition to the proposed dissolution of the Knesset. The decision followed extensive negotiations with MK Yoel “Yuli” Edelstein, chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and amid significant pressure from Shas chairman Aryeh Deri.

Shortly after midnight, Slabodka rosh yeshiva Rav Dov Landau issued clear instructions: if a vote on the dissolution of the Knesset was brought to the floor, Degel HaTorah and Shas lawmakers were to vote against it. A statement released from Rav Landau’s residence read, “After hearing all the commitments, Rav Dov Landau instructs the chareidi representatives to delay by one week the decision regarding the dissolution of the Knesset and to oppose such a vote if it is brought before the plenum tonight.”

Despite this directive, the opposition declared its intention to bring the bill forward, reportedly hoping to create a rift within the chareidi bloc by encouraging Agudas Yisroel MKs to vote in favor and thereby split from Degel HaTorah and Shas.

Indeed, the bill to dissolve the Knesset was defeated early Thursday morning in a preliminary reading in the Knesset.

61 MKs voted against the proposal, while 53 voted in favor.

In a joint statement released by Degel HaTorah and Shas, party representatives confirmed: “Following extended discussions with MK Yuli Edelstein, chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, understandings were reached regarding the principles of a draft law preserving the status of yeshiva students.”

The joint statement further explained, “As additional days are needed to finalize the text of the legislation, and based on the directives of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Degel HaTorah and the Moetzes Chachmei HaTorah of Shas, it was decided to delay the Knesset dissolution vote until next week. This time is necessary to complete the legislative process and reach a final draft. Accordingly, we call on the opposition to postpone their proposal to dissolve the Knesset until next week. Should they proceed regardless, we will vote against the dissolution.”

MK Yuli Edelstein expressed satisfaction with the outcome, stating, “I am pleased to announce that after extensive discussions, we reached agreement on the principles upon which the draft bill will be based. As I’ve stated all along, only a genuine, effective proposal that expands the IDF’s recruitment base will move forward from the committee I chair. I held firm on this. This is a historic development. We are on the path toward meaningful societal reform and strengthening Israel’s national security. The committee will soon begin deliberations on the bill as it advances toward second and third readings. We are on the road to history.”

Meanwhile, opposition leader Yair Lapid launched a fierce attack during his address to the plenum. “Once again, you’ve spit in the faces of IDF soldiers. Once again, you’ve sold out our fighters — for what? Two more weeks? Three? The chareidim had two choices tonight — either lose the draft dodging bill or lose the government. The government helped them choose draft dodging.”

He continued, “The government helped them ignore reservists and stitch together draft exemptions for tens of thousands of healthy young men. It won’t work. When coalitions begin to collapse, they collapse. It’s begun, and you know it’s begun. This is what it looks like when a government starts to die.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

U.S. troops have begun directly detaining immigrants accused of trespassing on a recently designated national defense zone along the southern U.S. border, in an escalation of the military’s enforcement role, authorities said Wednesday U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Chad Campbell described in detail the first detentions by troops last week of three immigrants accused of trespassing in a national defense area near Santa Teresa, New Mexico. Those migrants were quickly turned over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and are now among more than 1,400 migrants to have been charged with illegally entering militarized areas along that border, under a new border enforcement strategy from President Donald Trump’s administration. Troops are prohibited from conducting civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil under the Posse Comitatus Act. But an exception known as the military purpose doctrine allows it in some instances. Authorities “noticed three individuals crossing the protective barrier into the United States,” Campbell said. “A Department of Defense response went to interdict those three individuals, told them to sit down. … In a matter of three minutes, border patrol agents came in to apprehend. So that three minutes is that temporary detention” by the military. Trump has designated two national military defense areas along the southern U.S. border for New Mexico and a 60-mile (97-kilometer) stretch of western Texas, from El Paso to Fort Hancock, while transferring much of the land from the Interior Department to oversight by the Department of Defense for three years. The Trump administration plans eventually to add more militarized zones along the border, a military spokesman said Wednesday at a news conference in El Paso. “We have been very clear that there will be additional National Defense Areas across the southern border,” said Geoffrey Carmichael, a spokesperson for an enforcement task force at the southern border. “I won’t speculate to where those are going to be.” Proponents of the militarized zones, including federal prosecutors, say the approach augments traditional efforts by Customs and Border Protection and other law enforcement agencies to secure the border. “These partnerships and consequences exist so that we can promote the most humane border environment we’ve ever had,” El Paso sector Border Patrol Chief Agent Walter Slosar said. “We are dissuading people from entering the smuggling cycle … to make sure that smugglers cannot take advantage of individuals who are trying to come into the United States.” Defense attorneys — and judges in some instances — are pushing back against the novel application of national security charges against immigrants who enter through those militarized zones — and carry a potential sentence of 18 months in prison on top of a possible six-month sentence for illegal entry. A judge in New Mexico has dismissed more than 100 national security charges against immigrants, finding little evidence that immigrants knew about the national defense areas. Those migrants still confronted charges of illegal entry to the U.S. In Texas, a Peruvian woman who crossed the U.S. border illegally was acquitted of unauthorized access to a newly designated militarized zone in the first trial under the Trump administration’s efforts. U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons, who oversees western Texas, vowed to press forward with more military trespassing charges. “We’re gonna keep going forward on these NDA charges,” Simmons said. “We are gonna still bring them, we may win on them, […]

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will travel to Israel to address the Knesset later this month, the congressman said on Wednesday.

“It will be one of the highest honors of my life to address the Israeli Knesset at this fateful moment,” Johnson stated. “Our ties run deeper than military partnerships and trade agreements. We’re bound by the same beliefs, the same psalms and the same sacred pursuit of liberty.”

Johnson is scheduled to appear before the lawmakers on June 22.

“Today, the State of Israel and Jewish people around the world face grave threats, and it is our moral imperative to stand by our sister democracy,” Johnson stated. “As terror and vile antisemitic ideology threaten Western civilization, Israel must know that when America said, ‘Never Again,’ we meant it.”

Earlier this week, the House passed two resolutions in response to recent acts of violence against Jewish Americans, most recently when Molotov cocktails were thrown at marchers in Boulder, Colo., who were demanding the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza.

Last year, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu accepted an invitation from Johnson and other congressional leaders and addressed a joint session of Congress.

Amir Ohana, the Knesset speaker, called Johnson “a great friend of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.”

“From the moment he was elected, he not only expressed his support through words but also took decisive action, even at the risk of his position, to support Israel in its most challenging moments,” Ohana stated. “I hold him in great esteem, believe he is highly deserving of addressing the Knesset, and look forward to hosting him and hearing his words to the nation.”

AIPAC and the Israeli Foreign Ministry were among those who thanked Johnson. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a libertarian who typically opposes all foreign policy legislation, predicted that the trip would come at the cost of getting things done domestically. JNS

{Matzav.com}

Traders at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange were left stunned last Thursday when shares of Elbit Systems, a major Israeli defense contractor, nosedived by 33% in the middle of the trading day. The shocking drop had nothing to do with breaking global news or peace deals — it was the result of a simple but very costly typo.

While some might have assumed a major development — perhaps an end to hostilities in Ukraine or a sudden halt to the Israel-Hamas war — the explanation turned out to be far less dramatic. A single trader entered a sell order incorrectly and didn’t fix the mistake for nearly six minutes.

The blunder led to a large order of 66,000 shares being offered at a drastically reduced price, which instantly activated the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s built-in volatility controls, safeguards intended to shield the market from such mistakes.

Despite having nearly six minutes to reverse the error, the trader did not take action. The faulty order went through, and about $17.3 million worth of stock changed hands with Elbit’s price dropping 33%. Eventually, that trade was voided, curbing the losses, and the stock recovered to its previous level.

Each trading day on the exchange starts and ends with auctions, while the hours between are filled with continuous trading. Investors submit orders to buy and sell at set prices, and trades happen when those prices align.

To illustrate, if someone lists 8 shares for sale at $1,000 each and a buyer offers to purchase 5 at that price, the buyer pays approximately $1,350, and the remaining 3 shares stay available for others to purchase.

Buyers can instantly match available sell orders at the listed price or place lower bids that may only execute if matching offers appear later. Most of the time, this system works seamlessly. But every so often, someone places a significantly incorrect order that triggers chaos in the market.

To prevent catastrophic trades, the exchange relies on two major tools: a system that temporarily pauses trading during extreme price swings, and an option that allows erroneous trades to be canceled if specific criteria are met.

Trading halts are triggered when a stock’s price shifts too sharply compared to either the previous closing price (static) or the most recent trade (dynamic). These limits differ depending on the stock index. For instance, TA-35 stocks halt at a 7% static or 4% dynamic move; TA-90 halts at 8% and 4%, respectively. SME60 and growth indices require a 9% static or 5% dynamic swing. When this happens, a new 5–6 minute auction begins.

If the price change reflects legitimate market movement, trading resumes near that adjusted level. But if the movement was an error, the trader has a brief opportunity to cancel before incurring further damage.

The other protective measure enables traders to request trade reversals, but only if three conditions are satisfied: the price must have shifted by at least 6% dynamically for TA-35 stocks (or 12% for others), the total loss must exceed around $13,500, and the trader must report the error within 20 minutes of execution.

If those requirements are met, the exchange usually classifies the trade as a mistake and cancels it. The cost of such a cancellation is roughly $2,700 plus tax. The exchange also has the discretion to approve reversals that don’t fully meet the thresholds, though it rarely does so for trades that fall far outside the criteria.

Back in 2022, the exchange’s board agreed on new definitions for what constitutes an erroneous trade. However, those changes still await approval by the Securities Authority. Importantly, the criteria for trade cancellation are stricter than the volatility controls, which means most mistaken trades aren’t canceled unless the damage is substantial — this is more common in derivative trades or mismatched securities.

In the Elbit case, the trader submitted a sell order with a price set more than 90% lower than the going rate — a deal worth about $27 million under normal circumstances. At the time, there were around 2,000 buy orders on the books, priced just slightly below market, from 0.1% to 4% discounts.

Those buy orders were filled immediately at their respective prices. But once the stock dropped past the 4% threshold, the exchange’s volatility mechanism halted further trading. Nevertheless, 64,000 shares were still up for sale during the auction. For unknown reasons, the trader chose not to pull the order.

The shares were quickly snapped up at prices reflecting the 33% decline, completing a deal that could have cost the trader roughly $8.6 million. Shortly after, the trader submitted a request for cancellation.

The exchange refused to reverse the initial trades that occurred before the volatility mechanism kicked in, since the price drop hadn’t crossed the 6% mark. This left the trader with a loss between $13,500 and $16,200. However, the more damaging transaction involving the 33% plunge was canceled. The trader was also fined an additional $2,700 — a penalty that could have been avoided by canceling the trade earlier.

Once trading resumed, a quick-thinking investor placed a buy order at 1,000.1 — just a fraction higher than the erroneous price, but still well below the pre-mistake level. Three separate sellers executed trades at that price, offloading five shares and losing a combined $675. These trades weren’t voided, most likely because they were triggered by automated systems like stop-loss orders.

The stock rapidly regained its lost ground, and the surge itself triggered another halt due to volatility, this time on the way back up.

The sudden dip also rattled related instruments such as TA-35 index options and ETFs that include Elbit Systems in their portfolios. The index itself dropped by about 2%. Professional traders working with options likely recognized the brief mispricing and held steady, while less experienced ETF investors may have reacted impulsively, selling during the dip and possibly locking in avoidable losses. It’s still unclear whether the episode caused significant harm to index-based products.

When prices swing sharply without warning, investors should take a moment before reacting. Often, these swings stem from isolated mistakes and are later corrected. Before making a move, it’s wise to check if there’s genuine news or if the action is tied to a single error.

Moreover, if someone manages to scoop up shares from a mistaken trade, they should be cautious about selling them immediately. If the trade is later canceled, they’ll find themselves in debt — forced to repurchase shares at market prices to settle their account. In short, if a sudden profit looks too perfect, it probably comes from someone else’s mistake — and may disappear just as quickly.

{Matzav.com}